Codex - Sudden Contact & Sudden Supremacy
by NewAgeOfPower
Summary: How powerful is the Protoss battlefleet? What are the various Council species doing after encountering non-Eezo civilizations? How exactly do small-arms work in this future? What constrains modern tactics, strategy, and logistics? Who will win Deadliest Warrior - I mean, Sudden Supremacy!
1. Chapter 1 - The Yamato Cannon

**Codex Entry: Yamato cannon**

Arguably the pinnacle of terran weapons technology, the Yamato cannon is a crude but effective adaptation of fusion reactor technology, and is fairly common on battlecruisers deployed by various human nations.

During the arms race prior to the Guild Wars, engineers found the only practical way to quickly perform long-range Warp translations was to utilize a very large fusion core and plasma capacitors to store sufficient power for FTL jumps.

However, terran captains on quickly found that their fusion cores supplied far more power than standard systems could use, even with continuous weapons fire and drive thrust applied, and decried the 'wasted' power potential.

Rather than attempt to install additional laser weapons batteries (as many battlecruiser captains suggested) or defensive-matrix emitters (as a few spec-ops officers suggested) Dr. Mikihiko Chiba realized that the powerful fusion core of a battlecruiser itself presented an unrivaled weapons potential.

Although heavily opposed by the aforementioned groups, he was able to successfully argue that installing power runs for additional laser batteries would lead to unshielded power conduits being fed from the reactor room through life support sections, nuclear missile stockpiles, crew quarters, and that installing defensive matrix emitters would create numerous openings in the armor.

By 2459, the prosperous Umojan Physics Institute had sponsored his research. Although his initial weapons tests suffered accidents, causing the loss of two older battlecruisers, the experimental data allowed him to create an unholy union between ancient nuclear bomb-pumped laser dynamics, shaped-charge theory, and particle projectile physics.

Once Dr. Chiba's Mk II design had successfully fired nine-hundred and eight times without failure, Umoja began Yamato Refits into its capital ship fleet. Although infiltrators managed to steal much of his blueprints, Dr. Chiba's son and daughter continued to refine his work.

By the time of the Guild Wars, the heavy implementation of the Mk III Yamato cannon amongst the Umojan fleets deterred the Confederacy from intervening when the Umoja Ruling Council established the Protectorates.

Utilizing a pair of magnetohydrodynamic accumulators, the Yamato cannon accumulates excess reactor plasma both within the battlecruiser and 12 meters in front of the prow. Over 3 seconds of charge, the internal MHD cavity crushes the plasma mixture from an inject pressure of ~88 billion bar to an end state of ~250 billion bar, before triggering fusion along the y-axis using laser-induced inertia.

Spin imparted by the magnetohydrodynamic accumulators causes a cyclonic magnetic field, which along with the rear-to-forefront ignition sequence (mostly) directs the blast forwards… into the second ball of accumulated plasma.

The resulting effect consists of an photonic wavefront followed by a shaped plasma jet. It has (relatively) excellent coherence characteristics, and utterly annihilates all known materials and defenses. Due to the C-fractional nature of this attack, avoiding it once it has been fired is all but impossible.

Human witnesses, only able to perceive visible-spectrum light will observe the blurred after-images of a plasma blast, while wide-spectrum sensors will show a solid beam.

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: V. Adm Alexei Stukov

I have attached near-complete blueprints for the Mk III Yamato generator and extensive research notes on the Mk IV variant below.

Currently, the Mk IV Yamato device is considered _the_ premier weapon in capital ship duels. Outside of the Protectorate, only the Alpha Squadron has been entirely fitted with Mk IV weapons due to Umojan restrictions on exports of advanced weaponry.

Local UED intelligence assets reports that the Chiba siblings are delayed with the Mark V development program, whose superior beam cohesion and plasma cycling are estimated to increase damage by 15.3% and reduce energy use (and thus, mean time between shots) by 33%.

There are _persistent rumors_ of a new super-capital design, supposedly inspired by witnessing the protoss Mothership in action. Consisting of an enormous 2 km long cone, it only mounts as much weaponry as a pair of battlecruisers. However, it contains a gargantuan fusion core approaching the size of a cruiser, which is used to pump an improved super-Yamato wave-motion device, capable of continuous fire.

Yours truly,

Agent Armand

Director of Special Operations, Koprulu Division

* * *

 **A/N: Time for review response!**

 **HOmega:**

 **About once a week. I'm having a writer's block at the moment, and am working on another story (non-fanfiction). Does anyone know if I can link to FictionPress from FFnet?**

 **ARX:**

 **No. I detest stories that withhold content for reviews. That being said, human ego is a fickle thing, and most Fanfic authors enjoy having their ego stroked by lots of reviews; it usually doesn't hurt.**

 **pt1, Six Samurai:**

 **Ah. You're most welcome.**

 **Happy new year, everyone!**

 **A/N #2: Rearranged chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Protoss Carrier

**Codex Entry: Protoss Carrier**

The iconic capital ship of Protoss battlefleets, the Carrier is a stunning mass of psionically shaped metal - but for all its beauty and grace, it is one of the most deadly warships ever built.

Carrying eight wings of Protoss Interceptors, Carriers can demolish lightly armored targets in swift order, and squadrons of multiple carriers can overwhelm entire planets. Partially due to (thankfully rare) encounters with Carriers, terran Battlecruiser designs have progressively become even more heavily armored. Unfortunately (from the perspective of the Council Races, that is) pre-Koprulu Council designs are not very well armored at all, and Interceptor's pulsed photonic beams completely ignore Mass Effect barriers.

Not only are Interceptors tremendously agile and incredibly fast (more than twice the acceleration and top speed of terran **heavy** fighters such as the Wraith) but also mount active shielding and a durable hull.

While their armament fails to match the damage output of Gemini missiles or Lanzer Torpedoes (currently in development by Ares corporation), this ignores the fact an Interceptor is a third the size of a heavy fighter (not only making them harder targets, but can be carried en-masse far more easily than heavier fighters) and a swarm of Interceptors will rapidly shred opposing fighters in a manner reminiscent of a pack of Zerglings… Shielded, ranged, flying Zerglings.

Although most protoss Carriers carry powerful 'purification systems', they are ineffective in ship-to-ship combat; as utilizing their planet-burning armament requires not only the shutdown of the Carrier's engines & strike craft support facilities, but also requires multiple carriers to stay in tight formation; to permit their on-board Templar to commune and draw upon the Khala. An opposing battlefleet could simply move out of the firing arc when Carriers enter purification-formation and disengage drives.

Despite this, their Interceptor wings have a combined firepower output nearly quadruple that of a Council cruiser (and more than double of a terran Battlecruiser); the difference is that terran laser batteries are fairly optimized for use against armored targets, whereas much of each Interceptor's individual weapon output is mitigated against super-heavily armored targets (such as... a Battlecruiser) and as such, a Battlecruiser can, in theory, destroy an opposing Carrier in a direct duel at close range.

Unfortunately, Carriers are not only 33.2% faster than the terran capital ship (at full drive thrust), but can coordinate (and support) attacking Interceptor wings while at _twice_ the standoff range for Battlecruiser laser batteries; creating a scenario where Carriers can constantly engage Battlecruisers safely outside of the terran warship's range. Even faster Council warships are vulnerable to this tactic!

Luckily, the advent of the Yamato cannon and its extreme range have reversed the situation; a terran armada with charged fusion cores can duel with any protoss fleet attempting such tactics.

Even better, despite the advanced shielding technology and armoring scheme employed in Carriers (analysis indicates Carriers are _more_ hardened than Battlecruisers), fundamentally, a Carrier is an enormous **hollow** ship that is designed to build, carry, and support wings of smaller craft, and thus has far less structural integrity than most capital ships it's size, roughly 150% that of Council cruiser; thus a pair of Mk III Yamato blasts (or a ramming attack) can destroy a protoss Carrier in short order.

During the _First Battle of Braxis_ , protoss commanders used an innovative new tactic where they released Interceptor wings 'over-the-horizon' of Braxis. Blocked by the planet itself, Battlecruisers could not fire upon the protoss fleet with their Yamato cannons and were being swarmed by waves of Interceptors launched on suicide runs.

In desperation, the terran naval garrison left the gravity well and attempted to perform Warp translations to pin the protoss against the planet.

As their internal fusion cores were partially depleted from Warp Jump, most of the terran task force was unable to fire Yamato cannon against the protoss fleet; which quickly used its superior mobility and range to stay out of the terran fleet's conventional weapon standoff radius.

Getting cut to pieces when attempting to pull back and utterly decimated when attempting to assault, captains with nearly-charged fusion cores volunteered to perform a holding action while the rest of the fleet retreated. Although they fought (and died) bravely as any man could hope to, enabling their comrades escape, this was a humiliating defeat for the Dominion.

* * *

 **A/N: If you have read the most recent chapters of A Sudden Contact, you will know I have been collaborating with AVTM for awhile now. It's been a tumultuous task, but I hope we've created something to be proud of. At the time of this Author's Note, I have 5 codex entries in storage.**

 **A/N #2: Rearranged chapters.**


	3. Chapter 3 - The C14 Impaler

**Codex Entry: C14 Impaler**

During the Guild Wars and the Dominion Revolution, the primary infantry weapon operated by practically all terran factions was the venerable C-14 Impaler.

The weapon accepts a variety of 8x122mm rounds, which are stored in detachable external magazines. Standard infantry issued box magazines have a capacity of 100 rounds. The mass and of each spike renders them fairly effective vs Council kinetic barriers, hardy zerg organisms, and even protoss Plasma Shielding.

While drum magazines can hold up to 250 rounds of ammunition, they are not only ergonomically terrible, expensive and inefficient (a single 250 round drum both costs and weighs more than three 100 round magazines) but also unreliable when fully loaded.

Heavy 'half-crate' magazines typically contain 500 rounds of ammunition, with all sorts of variants possessing different capacities. These tend to be stocked in bunkers, where their sheer bulk is not an issue.

In operation, the C14's internal autoloader magnetically inducts rounds from the spring-fed magazine into a three-chamber loading cylinder. As a chamber locks into firing position, the round is electronically detonated, explosively injecting it into the weapon main assembly.

At this point in time, the projectile is travelling at a mere Mach 2, completely incapable of inflicting significant damage on hardened targets such as power armored terran infantry, shielded Protoss warriors, even finding it difficult to defeat the basic Zergling.

However, once the spike has entered the primary assembly, it meets two rails carrying a powerful electric charge, completing the circuit. The resulting Lorentz Linear Motor (colloquially known as a railgun) then accelerates the projectile to about Mach 8 (Older designs were barely hypersonic, whilst newer variants have higher muzzle velocities) before exiting the weapon.

Although caseless designs and even liquid propellant variants were explored, they were rejected for a multitude of reasons. Solving heat buildup without using metallic cases proved a byzantine task, and caseless ammunition proved slow to manufacture with frontier world technology.

The tripartite autoloader enables a theoretical cyclic rate of fire exceeding 33 rounds per second, or over 1800 rounds per minute. In reality, the magazine spring cannot keep up with such a sustained maximum rate of fire, jams become far more probable, insufficient heat dissipation is likely to melt the weapon, and in any case the maximum rate of fire would drain a standard magazine in under 4 seconds.

Towards the end of the Guild Wars, terran armourers experimented with depleted Uranium ammunition. Although power drain increased, DU proved an ideal material for C14 'spikes'; Uranium-cored rounds were twice as dense and 50% harder than traditional rounds, in addition to being both pyrophoric and self-sharpening.

Still, widespread adoption of DU rounds did not occur until the Dominion Wars. The various terran polities began (or resumed) mass production of fission-based nuclear armaments. Not only were vast quantities of DU produced as byproduct of Uranium-235 enrichment, but Strontium-90 as a byproduct of Plutonium breeder reactors.

The large quantities of Sr-90 made cheap radioisotopic thermal generators possible. With this single adoption, not only was the extra energy demand from launching DU spikes solved, but marines became effectively self-sufficient in terms of power generation (and thus, oxygen supply), being able to stay in the field for weeks as long as food and ammunition supplies held out.

Ostensibly a rifle, the C14 has been extensively maximized for performance in conjunction with powered armor, and thus shares few features in common with historically recognizable rifles.

The bulkiness of power armor (and difficulty of shouldering a weapon on such armor) combined with the availability of gyroscopic stabilization lead terran planners to drop the weapon's stock, as firing the C14 unarmored greatly exceeds your average human's limitations in any case.

Most external sights were deemed less accurate than the CMC armor's targeting scripts and thus were removed from the C14. In their place, VR sight-reference systems are installed into the weapon, to improve the speed and precision which the power armor interfaces with the weapon.

Rifling is not only suboptimal in fin-stabilized spikes but also practically impossible in any railgun based design. Overall, the C14 resembles a vastly scaled up heavy pistol/submachine gun with a shortened magazine.

Weapon performance, however, greatly exceeds those conventional arms it resembles and more closely approaches that of ancient tank cannon. Given time and sufficient ammunition, a single Marine can chew through tank plating, shoot down low-flying aircraft, and raze (or slay, in the case of Zerg) structures.

There are even multiple confirmed reports of Marine infantry shooting down low-flying terran Battlecruisers, Council Frigates, and a protoss Carrier!

* * *

 **A/N: As you can see, I've rearranged the chapter ordering. I must admit, I'm rather disappointed at the poor turnout to this - over 500 individuals felt that Sudden Contact was worth at least 30 seconds of banging out a review, but not even 10 for the codices? I know I spent more than 2% of my Mass Effect time in it's Codexes.**

 **Six Samurai:**

 **Yes. In theory, a Mass Effect barrier should at least somewhat mitigate the kinetic portion of a Yamato blast, but the energies involved are much more concentrated than even Thanix weaponry.**

 **HOmega:**

 **Dunno. The next two chapters have been written months ago, and will show up in the next two weeks. I'm lacking motivation and inspiration to write more - and your two word 'review' is not helping.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Council Fleets

**Codex Entry: Council Flotillas**

Pre-Koprulu, Council fleets utilized the same core set of technologies (Mass effect long-range cannon, Eezo-based barriers, medium-range missiles, GARDIAN laser grids for point defense and close-combat) but applied them in different ways.

Turian units are designed to be general-purpose units with a focus on durability, firepower, and most of all, reliability; they are the most Dominion-like (ironically) of all the Council factions. Mounting effective, low-maintenance, and proven systems, they act as part of a fungible task force.

Although none of the their units are individually as advanced or well equipped as similar Salarian and Asari designs, each one carries sufficient supplies and spare parts for at least three months of operation, tremendously reducing logistical strain on the Hierarchy Fleet Train, enabling a higher percentage of the Hierarchy Fleet to be invested into combat operations.

The simple and dependable design means that breakdowns are rare, and when they do occur, can easily be repaired in-field. This means that Turian fleets can completely forgo Fleet Train logistics support for short durations without ill effect, dramatically expanding strategic flexibility.

Meanwhile, the Salarian armada is composed of huge numbers of specialists, usually designed around high-intensity, short-duration warfare. Specialized logistics repair & resupply vessels. Dedicated EW cruisers with massive sensor and jamming arrays (like armed Science Vessels). And of course, the infamous STG insertion vessels.

In many ways, the Union's vessels are the most advanced of all Council factions; maximizing each unit's capabilities over ease of maintenance or dependability. For example, the average Salarian cruiser's Ultraviolet laser GARDIAN grid has more than six times the range (and three times the stopping power) of a Turian or Asari Infrared laser, hugely increasing both their point-defense power and close-combat capabilities. At knife range, Salarian cruisers are nearly as lethal as the significantly larger Terran battlecruisers, with more mobility but much less durability.

However, this comes at a tremendous logistical and reliability cost; it's estimated that Salarian ships require nearly triple the man-hours of maintenance per hour of operation when compared to similar Turian designs. Furthermore, their complex systems will suffer degradation in less than one-fifth of the operating time that more proven designs will, requiring yet more replacement parts and upkeep.

To prevent heat buildup from their high-energy systems from cooking the crew aboard their ships, Union warships must mount additional heat sinks and radiator elements; as a result Salarian designs have minimal structural framing and reduced armor thickness & coverage compared to Turian and Asari warships.

In short, the Salarian Union's warships are somewhat fragile compared to rival designs, but are tremendously capable at performing their designed task, in exchange for requiring immense logistical support and maintenance work after every major battle.

The Asari Republic Navy was heavily influenced by the abundance of Element Zero their nation possessed; Asari units are more mobile (for their size) and mount far superior Mass Effect barriers; enabling more mass and volume to be devoted to other systems rather than armor. Most of their vessels used this extra shipboard space to mount both utility systems and superior weaponry.

With superior survivability, maneuverability, and firepower when compared to the other race's vessels, their fleet reinforced the Asari's subtle insinuations of superiority. When the Salarian Union first began deployment of UV GARDIAN grids on their vessels, rumors spread that some Asari units could still emerge victorious in close-combat with Salarian vessels. This turned out not to be mere hearsay or gossip, but actual fact when an Asari Councilor revealed the existence of Silaris armor.

Analysis of samples recovered after the Battle of Thessia reveal that it is some sort of hyper-compressed allotrope of carbon, threaded with nanotubes. Silaris armor is not only exceptionally hard but fantastically heat-tolerant, and the carbon nanotubes lend the armor not only extreme tensile strength (and thus, resistance to shattering) but also ideal thermal conductivity. Laser weaponry must heat most of an armor plate to breaking temperatures before the armor will fail, as the nanotubes distribute the heat rapidly. Meanwhile, it's mechanical properties render it remarkably resilient to standard Mass Effect accelerator fire, although direct hits from DN scale guns will crack it.

Silaris armor is one of two known materials that can somewhat withstand (however temporarily) Protoss heavy weaponry and Terran Yamato impacts; a Silaris-plated warship is expected to survive 50% more Yamato impacts when compared to a conventional warship of similar size. Given the current post-Koprulu state of affairs, nearly all the factions are eager to acquire - by any means necessary - the secret method by which Silaris armor is produced.

After the Battle of Thessia, much of the hulked wrecks of the Asari Home Fleet were salvaged by both Salarian and Turian vessels to strip them of their coveted Silaris armor, to the detriment of Asari-Council relations.

Studies show that due to extremely thick ship plating and the heavy laser main battery (which ignore Kinetic Barriers) of Terran capital ships mean that a Council cruiser taskforce would have to outnumber the Battlecruisers at least 3:1 for the Council to win in a slugging match. Attempts to use hit and run tactics on Terran Battlecruisers are even worse, assuming the Battlecruisers in question have been equipped with Yamato devices. The might and range of Yamato fire would allow them to trivially slaughter Council cruisers.

This does not take into account the incredible ease at which Dreadnoughts can shatter Battlecruisers. A 'standard' 1.2km post-Koprulu DN's main gun has an effective range greater than the Mk III Yamato device by a factor of three. Even post-Council Terran battlecruisers with reinforced neosteel frames cannot survive more than four hits from a Dreadnought… And all post-Koprulu Council Dreadnoughts have been designed Asari-style, with twinned main guns! Given that Council Element-Zero based warships are much faster than Terran fusion-torch propelled warships, a Dreadnought can endlessly harass a fleet of Battlecruisers without fear of retaliation.

Plans to use Tactical Jumps to pin down the Council fleet were considered viable… Until Mengsk promised to share the secrets of Warp Drive technology with the Council.

The leader of the Dominion did indeed share the secrets of Warp Drives and powered armor, although he attempted to withhold the secrets of Full-spectrum cloaking once he realized Eezo was not forthcoming from the Council factions. Despite the less than ideal maintenance and logistical demands of the Warp Drive, even the Turian Hierarchy could not dispute the sheer strategic mobility it offered - finally divorcing ships from the Mass Effect Relay network.

Currently, all Council species are undertaking extensive refits on existing fleets to equip Warp Drives and all new designs were modified with the Warp Drive in mind.

The Turian Hierarchy has (predictably) chosen a simple, reliable, and fairly cheap derivative of the standard Terran drive, while Asari engineers, burdened by the need to rebuild their nation, simply duplicated the Terran design.

Inspired by battle reports of Terran captains straining their Warp drives for repeated Tactical Jumps, the Salarians also acquired the Turian derivative (using their STG agents) and proceeded to create a miniaturized version, capable of charging far more rapidly but only capable of short jumps.

Over the last year, all Union dreadnoughts have been equipped with not only a long-distance (standard) Warp drive, but also a secondary, micro-jump drive, greatly enhancing their tactical maneuverability beyond that even of a frigate! The size and expense of not only the micro-warp drive but a dedicated secondary fusion plant has prevented the Salarians from implementing these systems among smaller ships, which must carry crew, life support, weapons systems, barriers and armor.

Nonetheless, basic tactical calculations have showed that a multi-drive Salarian Dreadnought is nearly twice as effective in battle as a Turian design, helping mitigate the immense numerical superiority the Union fleet is facing, and forcing the Hierarchy to assign yet more Dreadnoughts to each of their fleets.

Both the Hierarchy and the Union have taken to full-spectrum cloaking with gusto, with rumors that the Salarians are assembling fully-cloaked fleets for strike purposes, and the Turians leading in cloaked Scout Ship deployment.

Of course, the apex of Terran weapons development, the Yamato wave-motion device, was conspicuously absent from the technology trade agreement Mengsk signed.

Luckily, not even the unadulterated greed of the Kel-Morian Combine has led them into sharing Modern Mk III Yamato technology with the Council factions (although, there are disquieting rumors of Batarian warships refitted with older, Mk II Yamato devices), and Mengsk's response to further technology-sharing requests was too crude to print.

The greed of the KMC, however, is matched by the desire of the Salarian Union for experimentation. Even the Turian Hierarchy could not resist the lure of a technology that might finally give them an equalizer against the nigh-invincible Protoss.

After repeated entreaties, certain groups within the Kel-Morian Combine (perhaps manipulated by or even a front organization of an shadowy covert ops group) sold Dr. Chiba's original Mk I Yamato prototype blueprints (at fantastic cost) to both the Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union (while massively raising prices by promising to sell the design to the other if they did not agree to the blatant extortion) without telling them of its history.

After two Turian Cruisers were lost in weapons trials, the Hierarchy immediately shut down all Yamato development projects, and swore bloody revenge against the KMC.

Meanwhile, after the Dreadnought Son of Sur'Kesh (at the time, the Union flagship) was crippled in weapons testing, (requiring over 17 months of drydocked repairs and refits) the Union began using expendable platforms for research instead. Two years and a dozen frigates (all hands lost) later, the Union still has not been able to duplicate the Terran Yamato device.

Furthermore, the appearance of the Daedalus-class (and now, _Archangel_ -class) super-Yamato based Terran Dreadnoughts must be causing significant consternation amongst the Council nations; the 2km Daedalus nearly matches the range of the 2.5km Destiny Ascension; and is far more lethal to boot.

(Additional analysis of the Daedalus and other Yamato-centric Terran Supercapital designs are to follow in another Codex Entry.)

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: V. Adm Alexei Stukov

Despite the casualties, Palaven actually considers the effort not to have been wasted; as insight into Terran Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) technology gained through these experiments have inspired Turian researchers upon how to replicate the particle beams fired by Sovereign during the Battle of the Citadel.

While their new Thanix weapons project will not match the destructive capabilities of Yamato devices, they can be fitted to even frigate-sized vessels and will overwhelm smaller Mass Effect barriers within seconds. Larger vessels may mount banks of Thanix turrets for medium & close combat. Estimates show that the Hierarchy could complete the project within the next half-decade.

Best of all (from a Turian perspective) they require less maintenance and are cheaper to produce than the Yamato cannon. Meanwhile, the Salarian Union has come up with an innovative new concept; the Yamato Suicide Drone-Rider.

Rather than attempt to replicate stable Terran MHD systems, the Salarian engineers have decided to reduce power going towards containment in favor of maximizing blast output.

By designing the weapon without consideration towards repeated use or even surviving it's own energies, Salarian engineers have increased system parameters far beyond the tolerance of comparable Terran systems. The single-shot Yamato device exceeds even the performance of the Chiba's new Mk V Yamato system.

These weapons are fitted to drones about the size of a small frigate; which contains little more than data transceivers, fusion thrusters, a plasma capacitor, and the Yamato device. The drone lacks even basic sensors, forced to rely upon Fleet datalinks.

Despite the usage of a plasma capacitor rather than a full fusion core, the drone costs more than a pair of Turian heavy frigates, but the blast has nearly half the range of a standard Dreadnought round… and the drone's emissions match that of a standard, normal escort Frigate being covered by a Salarian EW warship.

Normally, these drones are carried by dedicated fleet carriers (as is the Salarian way) which charge their plasma capacitors before launching them into 'standard' Frigate wolf-pack formations, with a Union EW cruiser in support. When an hapless enemy commander encounters 'a few frigates', he may suddenly lose a Cruiser or even suffer a crippled Dreadnought! The existence of these drones means that emissions signatures of 'crippled' Salarian warships may be boobytraps, and even normal Salarian wolfpacks must be respected and treated as far more dangerous than they really are.

Most disturbingly, the Union has begun designing bigger, heavy frigate-sized Yamato suicide drones with fusion core, Eezo & reaction drive, full sensor suites, Micro-Warp Device and full-spectrum cloaking… Estimates show that the price of a single unit must exceed that of a battlecruiser, but the tactical implications are worrying, to say the least.

Yours truly,

Agent Armand

Director of Special Operations, Koprulu Division

* * *

 **A/N: Well, it's been another week, and we're down to one last more pre-written chapter.**

 **FinweeLoLW:**

 **No, not really. I've gotten acknowledgement in the Ending Credits of Sudden Contact, IIRC. Not surprised, communications with AVTM is... slow, at best.**

 **AdmSaris, Kozokov, RealDeviant:**

 **As you see, I do have quite a bit to state on the Council. However, much of the Council is covered in Canon ME Codexes, while there is no similar tech-paper equivalent for Starcraft; so I've naturally focused more on SC.**

 **Zerg Codexes and relative comparisons of ToEs (Tables of Equipment) will follow later.**

 **Guest:**

 **Please don't use that handle, especially with anonymous reviews. Yes, CMC armor targetting scripts are kinda like Aimbots, lol =D**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Leviathan

**Codex Entry: Leviathan**

If one were to determine the most dangerous Zerg around from news reports and war films, one would assume the reincarnating Torrasque, perhaps the agile Mutalisks, or even the omnipresent zerglings were the most dangerous breed.

They would be wrong. By a combination of censored data, selective disinformation, and deliberate news emphasis on the ground campaign, the Zerg Leviathans were initially dismissed as rumors spawned by the hysteria of the Zerg invasion, and then as gigantic cargo transport craft. Even now, public awareness of the full extent of the Leviathan's capabilities is low.

The initial dismissal of a gigantic space-faring creature was trivial; prior to encounters with the Zerg, Terran biologists hypothesized that creatures larger than dinosaurs were impossible due to the square-cube law; just like biologists in Council space believed the same about the Thresher Maw.

Upon seeing a gigantic, dozen-plus kilometer Zerg beast, easily outmassing dreadnoughts, there was no small amount of consternation and disbelief in the galactic community. Of course, most of the galaxy (at the time) was too busy shooting at the gigantic spaceborne threat to conduct in-depth studies on them.

Later analysis indicates that in fact, the metabolic theory of ecology does hold true; biologically speaking, the Leviathan is in fact, not a single discrete organism, instead composed of 'modular' organisms supported by a matrix of space-adapted creep.

Individual modules perform functions such as (psionic) command & control, resource digestion, accelerated regeneration, propulsion, containment of lesser zerg broods, evolutionary testing, and even hatching chambers. A sufficiently large Leviathan can serve as a mobile center of Zerg 'civilization'; capable of not only carrying the genetic information of the Zerg and deploying it's broods, yet also capable of resource gathering, 'research' (evolution), and unit production.

Where the Council species would dig mine shafts through an asteroid, and Terrans would slowly carve it to pieces while setting swarms of SCVs to gather each segment's minerals, a Zerg Leviathan is so huge that it can simply swallow a smaller asteroid whole and digest it, accelerating resource gathering and further enhancing the already dangerous Zerg war machine.

Like all space-mobile Zerg broods (other than the Scourge), the Leviathan uses psionically-induced gravimetric propulsion to induce a localized gravity well in front of the organism, causing it to 'fall' towards the gravity well. Unlike other space mobile-broods, the radius of the artificial gravity well generated by a Leviathan is so large that it can affect opposing vessels!

Running away from a sufficiently close Leviathan is all but impossible for non-Eezo based vessels, and still very difficult even for Eezo-based warships.

Protoss have refused to comment on the similarities between Zerg and Protoss gravimetric (Observers and Warp Prisms, as well as Carrier launch catapult) signatures.

Although Zerg use gaseous sacs for reaction maneuvering on smaller broods, the amount of gas that would need to be vented to maneuver an object as massive as a Leviathan make such adaptations impractical. As such, the Leviathan has low acceleration and terrible turning abilities.

Despite being a command center, mobile factory, transport craft, research site, and resourcing node all at the same time, the Leviathan is also a capable warship. At close range, Leviathans not only have close-in-spore launchers and bile dispensers, but can also use their multi-kilometer long tentacles - normally used for recovering smaller Zerg broods or manipulating mineral rich asteroids into it's maw - to smash smaller ships or deposit vast boarding parties into larger vessels.

While GARDIAN is extremely effective against organic targets, each tentacle is thermally regulated by Zerg hemofluid (blood) analogue; resulting in increased time to burn through each tentacle. Worse, tactical officers are forced into a no-win scenario, being forced to use GARDIAN time on either an incoming tentacle or hundreds of Scourge and Mutalisks.

For vessels that have no close-in defenses, a Leviathan may seize it whole and move it into its maw; digesting the ship and crew whole. After multiple Salarian cruisers suffered this rather horrific fate (after burning out their UV GARDIAN systems over hours of extended combat) an entire Salarian flotilla threatened mutiny unless changes were promised - resulting in all Salarian warships coming standard with extensive self-destruct mechanisms.

At medium range, Leviathans typically rely on the massive amounts of lesser zerg carried within for combat. However, when their broods falter, Leviathans have been witnessed to employ their psionic abilities to rend ships apart by causing severe localized gravimetric differences.

This attack has been recorded as particularly effective against thinly framed Salarian warships as well as the hollow Protoss Carrier, and less so against the reinforced chassis of Turian and Terran designs.

It is suspected that they do not employ such abilities often for two reasons - firstly, gravity stressing is indiscriminate, and Zerg flyers would be torn apart faster than even the lightest Salarian frigate; it would be like a High Templar using Psionic Storm on top of allied troops.

Secondly, the mental effort required to cause such extreme effects must be enormously taxing. It is very likely that it is impossible to do so and at the same time retain control of one's broods; hence the need to first expend their broods before bringing down the hammer.

It is at extremely long range that this beast demonstrates weaknesses; indeed, the first Leviathan kill recorded was made by a short-squadron of Geth Dreadnoughts, screened by a small Geth flotilla. Thier accurate mass effect accelerator fire and advanced visible-spectrum GARDIAN (a compromise between the high endurance Turian/Asari designs and the high performance Salarian design) systems shredded smaller Zerg bioforms while the DNs pounded on the Leviathan until it died - the Geth concluded that a Leviathan of that size needed about 40 hits from a (800m) Dreadnought gun to terminate.

The Leviathan's carapace is hundreds of meters thick; allowing it to shrug off light accelerator fire, resist missiles and lasers; Dreadnought scale accelerators not only punch cleanly through but the energy transfer kills flesh for dozens of meters around the wound track.

Although shorter ranged than DN main guns, the range of Yamato cannon still exceeds the observed distance at which Leviathans have been able to employ psionic abilities; and Yamato devices are even more effective than Dreadnought impacts, literally cooking the Leviathan inside-out.

However, the anemic rate of fire from standard wave-motion weaponry can put attacking battlecruisers at risk; there have been multiple confirmed instances of a Leviathan literally soaking up the incoming Yamato shots until it got into range, and then venting its rage on the hapless terran captains. The "average" Leviathan can survive a dozen standard (Mark 3) Yamato hits, which is _quite_ impressive given the average Dreadnought will be destroyed or completely hulked after four shots.

The biggest threat from Leviathans, however, is its role as a mobile hive cluster. A single Leviathan finding a large volume of undefended biomass (... such as a planet full of people) means that a week later, you have multiple Leviathan… and a Leviathan is Warp-capable.

Not even the vaunted Terran parallel assembly plants can match this level of linear growth.

Luckily, this scenario is prevented by the control limits of each Zerg command organism (Cerebrate) - and since they're dead, Zerg expansion has been hampered by atavistic reversion to instinctual infighting.

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: Adm. Steven Hackett

I have finished my analysis on the report stolen (see Captain Rebecca Yang for details) from Umojan Protectorate intelligence, which was in turn stolen from the Salarian Union.

Unfortunately, this data is very real, and their conclusions correct.

During an Union weapons test near Thessia (for an in-depth explanation on why the frogs conduct their testing in such heavily infested space, see Dr. Elizabeth Henwick) the Salarians encountered a record-sized, Eezo-laced Leviathan.

Although their new weapon (some sort of single-shot Yamato drone) fired successfully, the operation was a failure. The entire Salarian taskforce, other than a reconnaissance & observation frigate was destroyed.

The combination of psionic and biotic abilities in a single being is truly terrifying to behold; when that being approaches the size of a small moon…

This Leviathan (which we will refer to as Entity 198) exhibited extreme acceleration and top speed, approaching that of the antimatter-torch equipped Protoss Scout, despite exceeding 20 kilometers across its longest axis.

Estimates show (assuming tissue density similar to 'average' Leviathans) that Entity 198 must outmass an entire Council fleet; and that it's carapace must be over a kilometer deep - Academician Zakharov believes that this monstrosity must incorporate a significant fraction of the total biomass around Thessia.

We believe that this abomination must have absorbed truly enormous quantities of Eezo from Thessia, and can use it's Element Zero nodes as a pseudo Mass Effect drive - for short durations, at least. It would be bad enough if Entity 198 merely concentrated all it's Eezo into a single Mass Effect core for mobility purposes; however there are reasons to believe that it's distributed them into modified neural nodes - like a gigantic biotic brain.

Secondly, it was observed to enhance its tentacles with biotic effects; very similar to a biotic Charge. Tentacles that would crumple a cruiser can cut through a Dreadnought, and move vastly more rapidly to boot. This biotic manipulation has extended to its maw as well, allowing it to actually suck in resources, debris, and unfortunate enemies.

Thirdly, Entity 198 was witnessed generating a small, concentrated Mass Effect/Biotic/Psionic barrier of some sort. Since the Salarian Union does not possess complex psionic instrumentation, the report couldn't specify exactly _what_ the Leviathan did, only that it was simultaneously psionic and biotic in nature. From its effects we can assume it combines Mass Effect barriers with intense gravity fields.

This barrier bent a Yamato jet enough to miss the Leviathan.

That is correct. The pinnacle of Terran weapons technology, which even the vaunted Protoss must respect, can be negated. How many blasts can it deflect? How many such barriers (Zakharov has taken to calling them AT-bucklers) can it make? We don't know.

Finally, Entity 198 has large protrusions like a cross between a stubby tentacle and a large spore colony... which launched Scourges at hypersonic velocity. Although the Scourges were far slower than even light mass accelerator fire (nevermind Dreadnought guns), they were also biotic as well, able to not only resist projectile fire with crude Mass Effect barriers, but accelerating far more rapidly.

Capable of performing terminal maneuvers superior to that of conventional Scourges, the scourge-cannon effectively outrange Dreadnought guns.

That was not the problem - after all, it's practically impossible to dodge lasers, and Biotic Scourges, no matter how good their mass effect barriers, can't resist laser weaponry. The problem was the incredible rate of fire - each of these 'biotic scourge cannon' demonstrated a rate of fire around 100 rounds (Scourges) per minute.

Rate of fire estimates and correlation show that the Leviathan must have ~6 pseudo Dreadnought, biotic-scourge cannon.

For... security purposes, and to maintain the morale of the expedition, it is advisable to only inform Vice-Admiral Stukov of this intel. We recommend that the Cronus Wing be reassigned to Stukov's direct command to attempt counteract this threat, and that they be placed on gag order upon pain of familial purging.

Yours truly,

Colonel Santiago

UED Tactics & Strategy School

P.S. Academician Zakharov has requested a vacation, and a crate of stiff Vodka.

P.P.S. I too, need a crate of Vodka.

P.P.P.S. Captain Patrick Harris has been demoted to Lieutenant for referring to Entity 198 as Cthulhu.

* * *

 **A/N: I was planning on uploading Codex: Warp, but thanks to your support, I have been motivated to write a new chapter. Props to AVTM for discussing things, and apologies for any blue balls that may have occurred.**

 **ADarkIdiot:**

 **MOMMY! I WANT THAT! I WANT IT NOW! NOW MOMMY!**

 **Why don't you go home, Dudders, and stop embarassing yourself in public.**

 **AdmSaris:**

 **First of all, Mass Effect weaponry are almost completely ignored by Protoss shields. Heavy weapons, such as spinal cruiser weapons, can actually put a dent in the defenses... a very small dent. Sustained Dreadnought fire, given enough time, can deplete even Capital Protoss shields... Given enough time. Meanwhile, Protoss weaponry completely ignores Mass Effect barriers and wtfbbqs the Council ships. The Asari elite Assault Cruiser squadrons, armored in Silaris, survive 50% longer... but dying in 30 seconds instead of 20 isn't actually a giant improvement, unless you catch the Protoss with their pants down.**

 **These factors would be bad enough, but even worse is the Protoss mastery of the Warp - the only race that comes remotely close is the Zerg when they had a Overmind high on sugar - nobody else comes even close. In deep space, the Protoss can enter and exit Warp as easy as breathing - in a gravity well, it gets harder for them, whereas the other races can't warp at all, so their relative advantage gets even bigger.**

 **Suppose your some (doomed) Turian admiral attempting to plink away at a Protoss squadron... they'll just warp on top of you and rough you up.**

 **The Terran Yamato cannon is absurdly powerful, however, as a weapon it has several huge flaws - and like much of Terran technology, still feels kinda cobbled together.**

 **First of all, is it's anemic rate of fire. From an empty fusion core, the MkIII (current standard) Yamato Wave Motion Device takes ~75s to gain critical mass (assuming 1 s = 2 ticks in BW time) and even the in-development MkV (SC2) system will still take ~50s to charge. It's range is good, but it will diffuse at some point as the plasma's very own heat pushes it apart.**

 **Meanwhile, the Council DN guns fire a slug every 2.5s. All Asari style DNs (and all post-Koprulu Council Dreadnoughts** ** _are_** **built Asari-style) have 2 main guns, instead of one. Even if each slug isn't quite as devastating as a Yamato hit, their rate of fire is obscene and means they fuck things up real quick... Kinetic weapons aren't slowed in space either, so they have (in theory) unlimited range. In reality, enemies aren't going to come at you in a straight line if they have a choice, so realistic maximum effective range is determined by projectile speed - which for Dreadnought main guns is extermely high, so very high max range.**

 **Anyways, I've written a mini-fanfic in replies to you. I'd appreciate it if you would extend me the courtesy of using an non-guest FFN account to post reviews/ask me questions/message me, instead of hiding behind Guest.**

 **pt1oef:**

 **The Salarians are** ** _quite_** **good at science and engineering. The fact their tech seems to be somewhat ineffective against Koprulu tech is more a factor of Asari and Promethean/Reaper psycho-cultural manipulation to ensure the dominance of Eezo-derived tech, rather than their own weaknesses.**

 **Well, that and the fact the Protoss are absolute bullshit magical space elves. It's not their fault!**

 **FinweeLoLW:**

 **First of all, I have to ask - how did you come by this screen name? It's hilarious and serious at the same time.**

 **Well, it's written from multiple viewpoints. The Codexes are supposed to sound like a mix between a dispassionate tech-paper you'd find in a science or engineering journal/magazine and a Wikipedia article.**

 **As for canonicity, each codex has been reviewed by AVTM, and most of them have some input from him. The stuff inside of them will almost certainly be seen in Sudden Supremacy or perhaps a future sequel.**

 **Annnnd that's it for this Review Response. It's a little surprising my last chapter with more words than the previous 3 combined had less than half the reads & reviews, but I'll try to find inspiration for more chapters. Still down to 1 in reserve.**

 **A/N #2: Standardized formatting, corrected stuff. Props to Blackhole and Megalomaniac - as well as to my audience for such a huge turnout! Answers to your review questions will occur next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Warp

**Codex Entry: Warp**

The Warp Drive is the only known practical mode of interstellar transportation prior to the discovery of the Council Races and their Prothean Element Zero-based technology. Dr. **[NAME EXPUNGED]** developed the Warp Drive in the early 23rd century.

First utilized for intrasystem travel to enable rapid colonization of the Solar System, the Warp Drive's most notable historical use was Doran Routhe's infamous exile of political dissidents, malcontents, and various genetic undesirables to the Koprulu sector.

At this time, the best terran (and thus, Council) Warp drive cannot successfully exit Warp space within (or even too closely) to a significant gravity well; this radius varies with the mass of the stellar body. It is usually safe to exit Warp less than a light-second away from an asteroid, but a sizable rocky planet (Such as Earth, Char, Antiga Prime) would have a dead-zone closer to a light-minute across.

Due to these constraints, deep space combat almost never occurs in modern warfare; a battlefleet that is outmatched can simply leave via FTL. Instead, most warfare occurs around massive objects, usually planets, which not only contain critical objectives (resources, facilities, and/or population centers) but also prevent an easy entrance/exit.

The protoss and the zerg seem to be able to nearly halve this limitation; it is hypothesized that the Protoss gestalt itself exists in the warp, and their perception of such allows them to more accurately probe the membrane of reality. The Overmind, meanwhile, was able to partially flatten local space-time through raw psionic might.

Furthermore, the protoss have managed to enable a limited form of Warp travel on the surface of planets through the usage of stabilizing Warp Gates. Using a 'projector' gate (in many ways, conceptually similar to a Mass Relay) the cost of entering Warp Space is shifted onto the Gate structure, and Warp injections can be performed in a gravity well. Through linking a 'receiver' gate into the protoss gestalt, 'transmitted' units can be safely received even upon planetary surfaces.

Disturbingly, during the _Battle of Thessia_ , the Zerg Overmind was seen opening Warp Rifts in space to intercept not only incoming Council dreadnought fire, but even dropships en-route to the surface; without internal FTL drives, many were forever lost in Warp space. Luckily for the allied forces, the Overmind proved unable to create or sustain more than a dozen rifts at a time.

Currently, a joint Umojan-Salarian project is underway to develop Warp Drives that can engage warp while still in a gravity well, matching the Protoss fleet in retreat capabilities. Despite their best efforts, neither human nor salarian scientists have any clue how to duplicate protoss gate technology.

Warp Drives are enormously faster than standard Mass Effect travel, but must be mounted on vessels capable of not only carrying the drive, but also a powerplant capable of energizing the drive.

Military warships must carry armor, sensors, and weapons in addition to miscellaneous systems; as such, the smallest FTL-capable warship worth building was the cruiser. Innovations since the Guild Wars have permitted worthwhile frigate-sized vessels.

The relative safety (and lower maintenance-costs) of Mass Effect drives has led to several Dominion consortiums seeking to build Eezo-based freighters. Unfortunately Element Zero is still fantastically expensive; mostly due to the arms race between the Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union.

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: Adm. Steven Hackett

Attached below is the final design for Mark IX Warp Cores. Pending approval from the Admiralty Board, we can put it into serial production.

The last piece of the puzzle required to complete the Valkyrie II Project, these improved Warp Cores are far more efficient and robust, permitting the repeated use of Tactical Jumps with standard power supply and without damaging the Warp Core.

The reduced energy demand not only enables power for extra weapons systems, more powerful sensor suites, additional point defense systems, but also a combination of enhanced thrusters and Eezo cores; which when combined massively enhance the Normandy-pattern Valkyrie's capabilities, both inside of combat and for other roles.

Furthermore, the reduced energy leakage from the Mark IX core has made full-spectrum Cloaking for (primarily) missile-armed frigates viable. Unfortunately, our battlecruisers use massive banks of lasers, and thus the enhanced Warp core does not significantly reduce their sensor footprints.

As such, I must _insist_ that rumors of stealthed Battlecruisers are utterly rubbish!

Yours truly,

Academician Zakharov

UED Fleet Research

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, the turnout to the last chapter was incredible!**

 **Er, I've been super delayed on Codex Daedalus due to the release of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. I'm also missing sleep due to a hectic work & training schedule. Fear not, however, I shall not (barring death, serious injury/illness, or the like) miss my deadline - to do otherwise would be to spit on the support you have shown me. **

**Most of my reviewers have reviewed two or three times each; a reversal of the FFnet trend of followers/favoriters exceeding reviews!**

 **Illusionbreaker, Sightsear:**

 **This is the last time I will answer questions from guest accounts.**

 **My work is formatted for reading on a smartphone; it looks surprisingly clean on my Nexus 6. It's quite good on my friend's iPhones, so I assume it works well enough on all medium-large sized hand-tablets.**

 **This Codex is better than canon in many ways; it's based on real-world knowledge of physics and engineering principles. You will find my codices better than the explanations Blizzard often gives.**

 **Real Deviant:**

 **Reread Sudden Contact carefully and slowly...**

 ***Spoiler* Liara's personal Leviathan never died, did it? *Spoiler***

 **HOmega, ARX:**

 **I'm not mean - I'm efficient. And if I 'trigger' readers enough to stop wanting to read my high-quality works, then I guess I'll just go do something else instead.**

 **As for the Geth lasers, they do generate more heat. However, as virtual beings existing on solid-state machinery, the Geth can afford to run their units at temperatures that would cook organic beings. Also, given that they do not need humanoid-sized access ways in their ships, their ships are less like the flying tin cans other races have, and more like solid blocks of reactors, cooling systems, weapons systems, etc.**

 **Not only are they more tolerant of the heat load generated, they can dissipate it more efficiently. #GethOP**

 **Blackhole:**

 **It made sense under the original Cthulu Specs. After the numbers were changed (ask AVTM) the entire Case Black file needed lots of rework, and I was too tired to do it at the time. It's been fixed now, if you go back to Chapter 5.**

 **Admiral Saris:**

 **Heh. Many questions you will have to ask AVTM. The Batarians have Eezo of their own, but more is always useful, especially with the KMC wanting Mass Effect tech too - and the Batarians don't care about slave lives, so throwing away hordes of slaves to fight/placate/distract local Zerg broods while they extract ore has been padding their bank account.**

 **The other shenanigans going on their definitely is the source of many a Council conspiracy theorist's nightmare - the Salarians and Turians are beginning to suspect that the source of Asari Eezo-based technological supremacy was perhaps a secret data archive in one of their 'Temples' on Thessia.**

 **ZeroNu, Finwee, Six Samurai:**

 **Well, you should have seen the original design parameters Entity 198 before AVTM used the NerfHammer on it. It could probably fight hundreds of Reapers.**

 **PSG1:**

 **A Very Thirsty Megalomaniac decided that the rate of fire was 1 round (per DN gun) every 2.5s, or 24 rounds per minute. It's his universe, and the numbers are plausible, so here it is.**

 **The Protoss are _very_ touchy about anyone suggesting similarities between them and the Zerg, lol. The Legacy of the Xel Naga is going to be influencing galactic politics for a long time to come.**

 **Annnd that's it for today. Going to catch some rest.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Project Daedalus

**Terran Codex: Project Daedalus**

Prior to the Mar Sara incident, terran naval engineers had thought of the almighty battlecruiser as the largest practical warship design possible - after all, even a three-fold increase in mass and armor would barely double the volume of Yamato fire it could survive, and the BC was already large enough to carry out almost all conceivable mission goals.

Building significantly larger designs would require extensive research and development, as well as engineering costs to construct the infrastructure necessary to fabricate such massive designs - an inefficient and unnecessary investment.

Contact with hostile Council forces did little to shed this impression - although the mobility of Element-Zero driven warships greatly outclassed the battlecruiser's anemic agility, they could not oppose BCs without dreadnought fire support. And though the impressive range of dreadnought artillery exacted a high toll from sluggish terran capital ships, that simply reinforced the impression that they should be building smaller, faster, and cheaper warships instead.

Scarce encounters with the Protoss as well as Zerg forces pushed the equation the other way, but in the final analysis, ship designers did not foresee making radical changes to battlecruiser design.

Then, during the _Battle of the Citadel_ , terran captains witnessed not only a gigantic opponent (the Reaper) that could shrug off dozens of Yamato impacts - but also the full fury of the Protoss, whose claim to be 'The Firstborn' suddenly no longer seemed like mere boasting, but perhaps a statement of fact as their Mothership casually annihilated the Reaper.

Panicking, ship architects began drafting designs for ever larger Yamato systems, or ships with multiple Yamato systems powered by multiple fusion cores - or both. Initial designs were rejected out-of-hand as Terran construction yards would need years of work to even assemble a _space dock_ capable of building a dozen-kilometer warship, but everyone realized the need for warships that could match the largest Protoss and Council units.

Ultimately, however, even the most advanced Yamato technology had a maximum rate of fire 20 times slower than that of dreadnought weaponry; making such designs little more than giant floating targets once they had exhausted their main batteries. As a result, the Dominion _Ministry of Peace_ was on the verge of cancelling Project Daedalus.

Luckily for them, Dr. Jason McKay, a disgruntled former Umojan Physics Institute engineer, had defected to the Dominion. Claiming that he was booted from the research facility due to "their inability to see his genius", rather than the public charges of "continuous unwanted advances and attempted sexual assault", Dominion researchers were forced to take him seriously.

Despite personality conflicts (Ghost Operative Nova has publicly called Dr. McKay a "filthy, disgusting, and whiny little pervert") the research he brought with him - a system for modulating Yamato output into a continuous beam rather than a split-second blast - proved to solve the problems facing Project Daedalus.

Instead of an external secondary virtual/projected compression chamber, the _Icarus_ super-Yamato wave motion device (multiple leading Dominion physicists threatened to resign if it was named the McKay device) uses dual internal confinement chambers with extensive support machinery, resulting in an eightfold magnification in magnetohydrodynamic containment pressure. The energies and scale required a vastly larger hull form than anything that could reasonably be called a battlecruiser, but the advantages were undeniable.

Such increases were only possible due to a usage of a (previously theoretical) metastable resonant plasma cavity, where the internal plasma provided significant efficiencies in lateral confinement, allowing a reduced fusion jet to be sustained from a much denser reaction. Although less instantaneously energetic than a concentrated Yamato blast, the _Icarus_ system could dish out far more damage over its firing cycle; not to mention the vastly shortened cooldown, as the Icarus was no longer limited by reactor energy generation but instead heat dissipation capability.

The resulting Daedalus-class Dreadnought (or Super Dreadnought, as some military officers have begun labeling warships of this scale SD) has a vast, 2.2 kilometer long bullet-shaped hull to house a gigantic fusion reactor approaching the size of a small battlecruiser. The powerplant pumps almost all of its output into the main gun, capable of firing a continuous fusion jet at the opponent, rather than solitary blasts of conventional Yamato weaponry.

The shape, drastic cost (R&D, new infrastructure required, plus the first six Daedalus-pattern SDs cost more than one hundred Minotaur-class battlecruisers), and sheer size of these hulls have led many Koprulu extranet activists to decry Project Daedalus as a gigantic waste of money by Mengsk who was trying to " _compensate for a personal deficiency._ "

However, their demonstration at the _Second Battle of Braxis_ silenced critics. General Duke inflicted incredible casualties against the Protoss by ambushing them with his flagship, (eponymously named _the Daedalus_ ) forcing them to retreat - in the process, demonstrating not only the impressive output but also the extreme range of the _Icarus Weapons System_ , nearly matching the reach of the Destiny Ascension's main catapults!

Soon afterwards, during the _Fourth Battle of Char_ , the _Bucephalus_ (flagship of General Warfield) demonstrated that a skilled operator _could destroy multiple warships_ with one attack, cutting through half a Kel-Morian Combine battlecruiser squadron in a single firing cycle, panicking the remaining KMC force into retreating. The appearance of the _Daedalus_ & the _Bucephalus_ (and the fact four more were under construction, with another three super-dreadnought sized shipyards being assembled over Korhal) drove international observers into a frenzy, as well as adding fresh fuel to the already intense arms race in the interstellar scene.

The Asari Republics diverted all spare production into adding Silaris plates for frontal armor of their few remaining dreadnoughts. The Salarian Union accelerated their Micro-Warp Drive DN refit project, and began secretly testing _Project: Koprulu's Kiss_. The Hierarchy poured more money into their Thanix development, and began drafting designs for heavy corvettes/miniature frigates armed with Thanix - upon realizing it would never get done in time, Turian taxpayers gritted their teeth and further increased dreadnought production.

With no other friendly faces in the international scene, the Kel-Morian Combine began updating much of the Batarian naval force, and built Yamato-weapons factories at Khar'Shan, to save on shippings cost, if nothing else. Although Salarians had cut down on exports of military grade hardware, even off-the-shelf commercial Union processor and control systems were more compact, and less energy intensive than the best Batarian military-grade electronics. Similarly Turian civilian ammunition storage & reloading systems, were lighter, and far more reliable, as well as safer than the Batarian variant.

Replacing older, unwieldy, cruder Batarian systems where possible using off-the-shelf commercial components bought with KMC money, many old, mothballed Batarian heavy cruisers have been stripped of much of their secondary weaponry, to make space for Yamato refits and cloaking systems. All Batarian dreadnoughts incorporate a battlecruiser sized modern (Mk III) Yamato cannon, as well as updated sensors. Although they lack the flair of Salarian/Asari/Turian warships, and many are suspected to have structural issues or design flaws, the combination of potent long range fire and high-mobility alpha-strike capability is a welcome sight for the beleaguered Kel-Morian frontline.

Ironically enough, this helped fund the Hiearchy & Union rearmament program. Turian officials close their eyes and do their best to deny reality, while Volus financiers are driven to wheezing histrionics.

The Umojan Ruling Council responded by shoveling more money at the Umojan Physics Institute, then reduced safety protocols to accelerate testing. Although this resulted in many injuries and even personnel fatalities in addition to lost laboratory equipment, the Chibas managed to reach a breakthrough on the Mark V Yamato development project **and** adapted it to the _Icarus_ design, calling their product the _Elohim_ super-Yamato wave motion device.

All the design work in the world does not yield actual warships, and foreign commentators wondered if Umoja had the political will or the industrial capability to undertake such a massive military expansion - but their doubts were soon nullified.

For the first time in its history, the Umojan Protectorates took on a budget deficit, putting itself into debt to raise funds for a gargantuan construction project, and to subsidize an Independent Terran System Alliance _Elohim_ -based warship, in return for large quantities of Element Zero.

In an unprecedented move, Umoja revoked long-standing workweek limitations, and local unions voluntarily sent their workers on unpaid overtime, even recommissioning decrepit SCV suits previously condemned as "safety hazards", to rapidly assemble five SD-sized construction yards in orbit over Umoja, with a sixth in ITSA space. Environmental legislation was temporarily suspended to permit mining in previously untouched areas of Protectorate worlds - not even Umoja itself was exempt. With massive drydocks completed in an amazing six months, international observers wondered if the Dominion would attack before Umoja finished its first _Archangel-class_ superdreadnought (Councilor Pasteur publicly quipped "If we're going to be throwing away oceans of money on these things, we might as well add Super to their names.") in an attempt to seize them. Ominous predictions of war increased as its Emperor demonstrated no emotional reaction in the wake of Juliana Pasteur's death.

Instead of invading, however, Arcturus named his son Valerian - a rather prominent son of Umoja - his _heir apparent_ , greatly reducing tensions between the two nations.

Slated to commission by the end of the year, the _Archangel_ -pattern SDs are slightly smaller (2.0 km hull length) than a Daedalus-class, primarily due to efficiency gains in fusion core engineering, permitting greater power yields from a denser, more compact core.

Despite the fact the _Elohim Weapons System's_ specifications are classified, Institute officials have confirmed that its range exceeds that of the _Icarus_ , and that its beam intensity is 'twice as energetic'.

Spokesmen also called Salarian accusations of Umojan infiltrators stealing their Micro-Warp Drive technology "baseless slander" and labeled the withdrawal of University of Sur'Kesh scientists from a joint USK/UPI Protoss Gate reverse engineering project "an unfortunate decision, but well within their rights."

Extranet celebrities both inside and outside the Koprulu Sector have pointed out the absurd irony of Terrans stealing a Salarian invention which was based on technologies stolen from the Turians, which in turn based on a system acquired from the Terrans in the first place. Umojan officials have refused to comment on this matter - although, in a show of support, Dr. Chiba reposted the discussions on several social media sites, inadvertently starting a popular meme.

The biggest advantage of the Archangel-class warship over the Daedalus, however, is neither its improved main weapon, nor its Micro-Warp drive, but its Mass Effect-based secondary drive, which occupies a percentage of its volume rivaled only in Asari warships.

Obtained through cooperation with the Independent Terran Systems Alliance, the precious Element Zero cores allows the Umojan super-dreadnoughts to turn on a dime, exceeding the maneuverability of conventionally propelled frigates.

Combined with its phenomenal main weapon, an _Archangel_ can aim itself at a squadron of enemies, eradicate them in record time, micro-jump away, and re-orient itself towards the next group of opponents before the first has even finished exploding.

* * *

 **A/N: I regret to inform you, my dear readers, that this will probably be my last codex entry for awhile.**

 **This is not due to any lack of appreciation or support, but the fact I can't think of anything that A) Really Needs A Codex and B) Can easily have a Codex written for it.**

 **Plus, I am getting busy with my Story/Visual Novel project.**

 **HOmega:**

 **According to my understanding, the Batarian/KMC Waygates are not really like Protoss Warp Gates, because they operate in near-zero gravity. Waygates (according my headcanon) are a combination of Mass Effect technology and Warp; lightening an object via Mass Effect fields, then sending it _even faster_ through the Warp.**

 **RD:**

 **Ask AVTM.**

 **Pt1eof:**

 **I believe the _Normandy-Pattern Valkyrie II_ was hinted at awhile back, in Sudden Contact, or the Timeline. & Faction Analysis. Or maybe it was early on in Sudden Supremacy, I forget which ; )**

 **Kaoupa:**

 **Thank you. Fixed.**

 **Finwee, AVTM:**

 **You are welcome.**

 **SSODO:**

 **Your name makes a very... unfortunate acronym. Sure, I will be willing to read one (1) chapter of your work.**

 **Annnd that's it for a month or so. Do not despair if I do not return soon - Meglomania is going to update his own timeline/facanalysis thing. Plus, Sudden Supremacy's normal chapters aren't half bad either!**

* * *

 **A/N#2: Sometimes, I am an idiot. I overlooked reviews left by one of my most loyal supporters by accident.**

 **I must be getting old, despite only barely being 25!**

 **AdmSaris:**

 **A brilliant question. The Turian and Salarian navies with access to Eezo have gone to dual-drive (Warp & Mass Effect) on cruisers & larger vessels, with the Salarians building triple-drive (Microjump) Dreadnoughts, while the Asari can barely afford to divert any industrial capacity away from building roads, cities, farms, rails, factories, etc. In this codex, you've also seen that Umoja is making triple drive SDs as well.**

 **A Warp Drive and fusion core (especially a cheaper, weaker core just enough to power the drive, suitable for Civilian ships) is cheaper than Element Zero, especially in this gigantic arms race situation where the Salarians and the Turians are eating over half the Eezo market for military purposes alone.**

 **However, Warp Drive technology is finicky and requires far more maintenance than the mature Mass Effect drive. Currently, there is a huge market where old civilian freighters decomission their Eezo for sale to the Salarian or Turian militaries, and then replace them with Warp Drives. Warp drive travel is also faster, strategically speaking, but critical VIP/message dispatch ships use a hybrid Warp Drive & Eezo system; the Mass Effect core allows faster travel inside a gravity well, and Warps once outside the well.**

 **Before I leave again, let me make a recommendation:** _Renegade Reinterpretations_ (7170477) by _College Fool_ \- A species without Paragons is one with a sad and terrible history. Humanity enters a very different First Contact War, and Mass Effect as you know it will change. Warning: this fic may make you rage and wish genocidal retributions against aliens.

 **No, I didn't write the last sentence, but it's certainly appropriate. This narrative/timeline is not really a fanfic perse, but more of an exercise in reasoning, logic, and understanding the consequences of actions. It's far higher quality than the Mass Effect script, although that's not saying much.**

 **It's one of the best Alternate Mass Effect fics out there - which is saying a huge amount, given it has to compete against fics like LAID and the Sudden Series.**

 **The fic is not for everyone, but is very believable overall, and things work in it that resembled how I've personally thought it might occur.**

 **Your author,**

 **NewAgeOfPower**


	8. Table of Organization & Equipment

**Codex Entry: Table of Organization & Equipment**

From the inscrutable Geth to the forthright Turians, all factions have various "classes" of combat units.

 **|Naval Warfare**

Lighter naval units tend to be organized into _squadrons_ of 4-8 craft; heavier naval units in _divisions_ of 2 vessels, or attached to naval formations as singletons, usually in the case of supercapitals.

The following classifications of units are not absolute; for example, the famous Terran Battlecruiser greatly exceeds the standard definition of cruiser, yet is not at the level of a supercapital ship in capability or cost.

 **Fighters** (~15-50m length, 20-80 tons mass)

Small craft relying primarily on numbers and evasion for survivability. Almost always sublight-only and attached to larger craft for FTL mobility or stationed to fixed facilities for repair and other services.

 **Frigates** (~100-200m length)

Medium sized warships somewhat capable of evading fire from capital vessels and carrying sufficient armor and/or shielding to withstand multiple hits from fighter-scale weaponry. Until recently, not heavily employed by Terran factions (other than the UED), as colonial Warp Core technology is too large and power hungry to fit into smaller hulls.

Frigates tend to be treated as the standard 'infantry' unit of other naval forces.

 **Cruisers** (~350-550m length)

The dividing line for "capital" class vessels, these warships tend to carry sufficient supplies and redundancies for extended operations, and greatly outclass lesser vessels in hull integrity, protection, and weaponry.

Cruisers represent a non-trivial investment of a star nation's resources.

 **Dreadnought** (~800-1200m hull length)

The first super-capital warship, only the largest of star nations can afford to construct dreadnought-sized warships.

So destructive they were viewed more as a strategic superweapon than a standard combat unit, Dreadnoughts were limited until recently by the Treaty of Farixen.

 **Superdreadnought** (~1800-2200m hull length)

Retroactively applied to the _Destiny Ascension_ , these vessels are designed to fight other super-capital warships rather than to kill cruisers.

Of course, with an order of magnitude increase in size and power comes a similar increase in cost.

 **|Ground Warfare**

Land-based combatants tend to be organized into squads of 8-12 units; it is rare that concentrations of over 200 units occur due to the threat of orbital bombardment.

The following classifications of units are not absolute; for example, the Protoss Archon is only 30% larger than a Terran Siege Tank, despite being classified as Massive.

 **Infantry**

Whether armed with mundane weapons such as slugthrowers or equipped with esoteric psionic or biotic powers, the infantry unit is small enough to enter most structures and be easily transportable.

Basic infantry, due to cost efficiency purposes, tend to be used as cannon fodder.

Modern infantry, whether due to Psionic/Biotic powers, power armor, or evolutionary conditioning, can usually keep up with slower vehicles in mobility.

 **Light Vehicle**

This category includes things most would not define as vehicles on first thought. For example, the Zerg Roach is a single, if big organic being, while the Protoss Stalker is rather akin to exceptionally large infantry power armor.

However, the Roach and Stalker both out mass the Terran Vulture or Salarian Saboteur, and have vehicle-appropriate capability, and thus are classified in this category.

Light vehicles tend to be used for scouting purposes.

 **Heavy Vehicle**

Most of the inclusions are obvious - the Terran Crucio, the Turian Spearhead, the Protoss Reaver - these heavy vehicles are usually the amongst most critical elements in a ground campaign, having capabilities that smaller vehicles cannot match.

 **Massive**

Something unique to the Koprulu sector, Council space long regarded massive-scale ground units as completely impractical; there was no place for such a huge investment of resources that would be vulnerable to orbital strikes.

However, Koprulu warfare proved them wrong in many cases. When the gigantic Ultralisk crashed through their defensive lines, or the Colossi casually walked through mountains as if they were children's steps, these Massive units demonstrated they were worthy of their cost.


	9. Chapter 9 - Protoss Naval TOE

**Codex Entry: Protoss Naval TOE**

The most powerful of known civilizations, the Protoss include the Khalai and the Nerazim, with as-of-yet unsubstantiated rumors of a third faction, the Tal'darim.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Interceptor (Light Fighter) [Khalai]**

 _Approx 12m long, 20m wide_

A sublight drone fighter craft carried en-masse by Protoss carriers, it is most distinguished by its unusual "flying wing" hull form, significantly wider than its length.

Equipped with photonic weaponry, extremely powerful engines, shielding, and even some hull plating, they can tear apart capital ships in a manner reminiscent of a pack of ravenous zerglings, and are especially deadly against Council warships whose reliance on kinetic barriers (and paucity of armor) is a critical weakness.

Surprised by the range and power of Battlecruiser-fitted Yamato cannon fire, Protoss commanders have devised a new tactic, where they launch all available interceptors on a one-way automated attack run to keep their ships out of the Battlecruiser's range.

See **Codex Entry: Carrier** for more details.

 **Phoenix (Heavy Fighter) [Khalai]**

 _Approx 36m long, 30m wide_

A relatively new Protoss design, Phoenixes have only been spotted recently. Combining powerful thrusters and an inertia-reducing micro-warp field, these craft allow the pilot to perform physics-defying maneuvers with casual ease. Asked whether this craft was inspired by Mass Effect technology, Protoss Ambassadors on the Citadel have responded with flat denials.

Although its primary weapon, twin linked ion cannon, allow it to engage various aerospace targets, the Phoenix itself is ill-suited for strafing runs, and thus must rely upon using a graviton beam to lift and immobilize ground targets for other Phoenixes to engage.

Despite its rarity, these fighters are probably the finest skirmishing craft in existence.

Disturbingly, variants have spotted that have been equipped with phasic technology, allowing them to evade incoming weapons fire by _temporarily dipping themselves into subspace_.

Such a rapid shift is theorized to be lethal to all organic life, and these _Mirage-pattern_ Phoenixes are suspected to be driven by AI.

 **Corsair (Heavy Fighter/Corvette) [Nerazim]**

 _Approx 64m long, 22m wide_

Primarily employed by the Dark Templar faction of the Protoss, these craft carry neutron flare guns for usage against enemy craft. Regardless of its short range, the high rate of fire allows a pack of Corsairs to easily cut down lighter opponents such as the Mutalisk.

However, of greater significance is their Void energy catalyst, which enables the pilot to create a Disruption Web; some sort of advanced psionic technique that suppresses both computer-aided targeting systems and neural pathways.

Their brilliant Ion Drives are extremely distinctive - quite unusual for the normally shadowy Nerazim. Each corsair has similar levels of protection of the smaller Pheonix.

 **Scout (Heavy Fighter/Corvette) [Khalai & Nerazim]**

 _Approx 80m long, 34m wide_

The Protoss Scout, as implied by its name, is an FTL-capable long-range reconnaissance craft rather than a dedicated combat fighter, and this shows in its poor atmospheric agility.

However, as the pre-eminent civilization, even Protoss reconnaissance units are capable of punching holes into Battlecruisers. Armed with missiles tipped with approximately 0.3 grams of anti-deuterium, few targets can survive repeated salvos from Protoss Scouts. Against ground opponents, Scouts tend to employ repeating Photon cannon, which while less impressive than antimatter-missiles, are still capable of destroying targets in short order.

Nearly the size of a small frigate, it is difficult to classify the Protoss Scout as a fighter, but it is hard to define a (relatively) maneuverable single-pilot craft as a warship.

Heavily framed and equipped with significant shielding, the Protoss scout is roughly 25% more durable than the _Valkyrie frigate_ , despite being 40% smaller!

 **Arbiter (Heavy Frigate) [Khalai]**

 _Approx 180m long, 70m wide_

On paper, the Arbiter seems extremely undergunned - its phase disruptor cannons are merely fighter scale weaponry, even if Protoss fighter-scale weaponry is unusually destructive. Such excludes the presence of the Judicator caste onboard the Arbiter - normally, most races regard their politicians as an necessary evil, but even Protoss politicians are extremely useful, being able to alter reality to their will.

Bending the very fabric of spacetime, (thankfully) rare encounters with Arbiters have their abilities such as the following; instantaneous summoning of a Protoss force across multi-AU distances, mass-cloaking of allied forces, space-time stasis of both friendly and hostile targets.

As expected, the Judicators onboard are lavishly protected by Protoss technology, rendering the Arbiter roughly 75% more durable than the Valkyrie frigate despite being only 33% larger.

 **Void Ray (Light Cruiser) [Nerazim]**

 _Approx 380m long, 85m wide_

An elongated, bullet-shaped hull, the Void Ray is a sleek, deadly-looking craft, which reveals its purpose as a flying assault beam.

Capable of creating a coherent stream of Void energies, the Void Ray's warp beam is rather similar to a gigantic version of a Dark Templar's Warp Blade - slicing through battlecruiser plating as if it were paper.

Even more frightening than near-Dreadnought levels of firepower on a small hull is the fact that somehow, this Nerazim craft is just as agile as a Protoss Scout less than a quarter its size!

To achieve such mobility, however, the Nerazim ship-singers were forced to make compromises, and the fragile, hollow craft has as much durability as the Scout. Like the Tempest, this warship carries no secondary batteries, no point defense weapons or CIWS arrays.

The concept of the Void Ray - an ovoid design built around a large flying gun firing a continuous death beam - was unintentionally duplicated, albeit writ large and with Yamato technology rather than Warp tech in the Dominion's _Daedalus_ and the Protectorate's _Archangel_ superdreadnoughts.

 **Tempest (Heavy Cruiser) [Khalai]**

 _Approx 660m long, 355m wide_

This relatively new Protoss warship is the Khalai take on the Nerazim's capital-ship hunter - yet another flying cannon. Although sluggish compared to the nimble Void Ray, the Tempest is heavily framed, thickly armored, and well-shielded.

Rather than rely on a medium range beam weapon, the heavy cruiser instead induces kinetic matrices - poorly understood packages of exotic physics and high energy, which, as with all Protoss heavy weaponry, are very powerful.

Although the kinetic matrix of the Tempest is much less destructive than a Warp beam, and the round is slower than even anemic Batarian missiles, the energy torpedo is, for all practical purposes, completely immune to interception and has an effective range exceeding older (800m) Council Dreadnought spinal guns.

It is suspected that after combat with the Reaper, the Protoss realized their hollow Carriers could be destroyed just as rapidly as a lighter, less expensive warship, while its immense bays of Interceptors had a very hard time penetrating the Reaper's extremely tough skin, dealing very little damage despite the massive investment, and thus have prioritized construction of more moderately sized, single-purpose warships over increasing the Carrier count of the Golden Armada.

One of the key vulnerabilities of this new generation of Protoss cruisers is that they do not seem to carry any secondary armament, rendering them far more dependent on being in a supported fleet formation than the Carrier.

 **Carrier (Dreadnought) [Khalai]**

The _Khalai-_ Pattern Carrier was previously covered in **Codex: Carrier** , but new discoveries have been made since. A second, smaller pattern of Protoss Carrier has been seen in increasing numbers since the Great War.

 _Khalai-_ Pattern

 _Approx 1300m long, 320m wide_

The most iconic Protoss capital ship, the Protoss seem to field carriers en-masse the way Terrans mass-produce Battlecruisers; the _Golden Armada_ is estimated to deploy more Carriers than the Asari and Salarians together possess cruisers!

The _Khalai_ -Pattern, or pre-Great War design is lavishly equipped with Purification weaponry, Orbit-to-Surface Batteries, etc, in addition to its main armament, the Interceptor bays. For more information, see **Codex: Carrier**.

 _Daelaam-_ Pattern

 _Approx 980m long, 240m wide_

Omitting 'extraneous' systems such as the Purification array, the _Daelaam_ -Pattern is smaller, slightly faster, and just as well shielded as the _Khalai-_ pattern. However, constraints of its design and its reduced size have lead to a significant reduction (~ 20%) in hull durability compared to the original pre-Great War design.

Still fielding eight wings of Interceptors, these carriers are designed with improved control uplinks, permitting Protoss commanders to easily deploy their strike craft at extreme distances, significantly improving combat performance under most scenarios.

This, however, does not solve the problem of Interceptor resupply, and as such craft launched with no hope of recovery either self destruct or perform kamikaze attacks once they reach their endurance limits, to prevent the loss of Protoss technology.

 **Mothership (Superdreadnought) [Khalai]**

 _Approx 2500m, roughly saucer shaped_

The largest Protoss warship seen in the Great War, its full list of capabilities is uncertain but known to include the following:

-Mass cloaking of all nearby allies.

-Remotely forming an powerful gravitational distortion, sucking in opponents (to more easily kill them later)

-Large scale 'soft' temporal stasis, somewhat similar to Judicator abilities, but on a massive scale.

-Long distance near-instantaneous teleportation of massive forces.

Its secondary batteries, a shipboard version of Colossi purifier beams, outclass the main laser armaments of Great War era battlecruisers.

Meanwhile its primary weapon is capable of burning planets - a feat that would normally take entire squadrons of Carriers. Although it has difficulty in acquiring and tracking targets smaller than a DN, it is capable of casually eradicating even the toughest warships in short order.

However, the thin and elegant cross-section of the craft, allowing it to easily stay on station in high or low orbit, and even enter atmosphere for ground combat support, renders it extremely fragile for a vessel of its size; reminiscent of a Salarian dreadnought in durability.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Observer (-) [Khalai & Nerazim]**

 _Approx 24m long, 8m wide_

Where scouts act as the (heavily armed) vanguard of the Protoss reconnaissance efforts, the humble Observer is its true backbone.

By using an AI pilot, the tiny vessel can omit life-support systems, reducing both thermal signature and size. Due to its tiny frame, arcane Protoss technology has a much easier time hiding its signature from enemy sensors, further enhanced by the incorporation of metamaterial layers into the hull.

Equipped with thermal, UV, and gravimetric sensors, even full-spectrum cloaking is insufficient to hide a ship from the Observer - although, University of Sur'Kesh scientists have theorized that with a sufficiently precise Mass-Effect field combined with advanced cloaking technology could deceive the Observer.

Units attached to Fleet duty tend to mount a gravitron drive for faster, yet emissionless (and thus stealthy) propulsion to better keep up with Fleet movements.

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: Adm Gerard DuGalle

Old friend, I thought Entity 198 was frightening.

We have confirmed the existence of at least one (1) Protoss Ark-class ship. Measuring seventy-four kilometres along its longest axis, this massive vessel carries _squadrons_ _of_ _Carriers_ the way Carriers carry Interceptors, mount turrets larger than dreadnoughts (!), contain vast armies of tens of thousands of templar, manufacturing facilities capable of fabricating entire mountains of materiel.

The _mining beam_ vaporizes planetary crusts faster than a Daedalus Superdreadnought's main gun.

Ah, to make it better, the Protoss insisted that "the Arks are not warships."

Gerard, we must do _nothing_ to anger the Protoss until we are ready. Do not take any risks until our scientists have finished developing the _Project Culexus_ weapon.

Yours truly,

V. Adm Alexei Stukov


	10. Chapter 10 - Asari Naval TOE

**Codex Entry: Asari Republican Navy TOE**

One of the oldest starfaring civilizations, the Asari Navy is a pale shadow of its former self, but at the twilight of the Republic, each ship and each sailor is perhaps at her deadliest level yet.

Asari ships have a distinct hull format with multiple fin-like stabilizers; frigates tend to have two; one on each broadside, cruisers three, including a ventral 'fin', and dreadnoughts four, adding a dorsal stabilizer.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Monoskopos (Fighter)**

 _Approx 30m long, 18m wide_

Unsurprisingly, the Asari disdain single-pilot fighter craft more than any other race, as the attrition rates for non-Protoss fighter craft is extremely high, and the Council races drone technology is decades, if not more, behind Human/Terran tech due to post-Geth Rebellion laws and attitudes.

Even with the resurgent wave of nationalism across Asari space, few volunteers want to become a fighter pilot - and Asari Admirals themselves believe that investing their limited industrial capacity into building fighters for rookie pilots is an absolute waste.

However, the (depressingly few) survivors of the Asari fighter corps after the Fall of Thessia are probably the most experienced pilots in the galaxy, rivaled only by Protoss.

Many of them have fought pirates, rogues, Batarians, Terrans, and the Zerg - and are still alive to tell the tale. Almost every single one of them a multiple-ace, some of them with hundreds of kills to their name, these elite pilots are determined to defend the remnants of the Republic the best way they can - even if it means their deaths.

Having less than a hundred fighters remaining, the Asari state has armored them in Silaris - very _thin_ plates of Silaris - which increases their survivability against laser fire by an order of magnitude - and fitted them with the most advanced fighter-sized barriers they can build.

These remaining squadrons are given the duty of protecting the few surviving Asari dreadnoughts.

 **Novitiate (Frigate)**

 _Approx 150m long, 60m wide_

The stereotypical example of an Council warship, the Novitiate frigate is moderately framed, moderately armored, equipped with good barriers, a spinal Mass Effect accelerator, torpedo bays and broadside missile weapons.

The long-lived, pacifistic Asari traditionally disdained military service and even those who joined the military did not want to be in a relatively fragile ship. Thus, for different reasons than the Turian Hierarchy, the Asari Republic's fleet reached a similar force composition - one frigate per cruiser or less.

This ratio means that just like Turian Fleet, the fact their Frigates do not carry a Warp Core is only a small annoyance - the Asari simply equip their cruisers with a larger than necessary Warp Core and have their frigates attach themselves to a cruiser before jumping.

 **Shining Path (Cruiser)**

 _Approx 420m long, 180m wide_

The oldest Council 'design' still in active service today, the Shining Path class cruisers first served over fifteen centuries ago; each ship custom built by Asari shipwrights. It speaks volumes of the state of the technological plateau facing Element Zero based civilizations that a 1,500 year old hull could still be used, even with refits every generation or so.

The oldest ships proudly bear marks from the Rachni Wars and the Krogan rebellion, and have fought practically every opponent in the galaxy. Despite the best attempts of the Turians and Salarians to obsolete the archaic cruiser design, the Asari stubbornly retained it as their primary cruiser.

Within a few centuries, directing the construction of a _Shining Path_ became the traditional rite of passage for Asari matron-journeywoman seeking to earn the badge of a matriarch-master.

The Zerg, however, did what neither the Salarians, Rachni, Krogans, Turians, Batarians, nor the Protoss and Terrans could achieve - they ended this proud, millennia old tradition. The age of handcrafted warships is over.

Although its chassis is about average in frame weight, the ship is more durable than expected due to high quality of each component and the attention to detail in fitting said components. Add in superior barriers, and it is easy to see how so many ancient cruisers survived for such a long time, building up such a reputation.

The remaining cruisers have been refitted with a fusion reactor and Warp Core, but their ammunition and supply storage were reduced to make space, and the crews complain of crampedness. Due to limited Asari Remnant industrial capacity, further refits are unlikely.

 **Justicar (Heavy Cruiser)**

 _Approx 599m long, 280m wide_

The Asari, traditionally iconoclastic and often pretentious, refused to call the jewel of their fleet by an mundane name like "Heavy Cruiser" - they elected to be different and and designate their _Justicar-_ class vessels as "Assault Cruisers".

Although slightly larger than the Turian _Victrix_ -class Heavy Cruisers, the _Justicar_ retains a single-barreled spinal accelerator. Unlike other Asari designs, their Assault Cruiser completely omits broadside accelerators, and mounts medium-short range torpedo racks in their place. Most distinctively, the Justicar is the only ship design completely plated with Silaris.

The unmistakable black nanocomposite armor renders the Justicar extremely resilient to enemy weapons fire. Combined with heavy barriers and an powerful drive, the _Justicar_ is designed to charge straight into the middle of an enemy wall of battle, employing its high burst (if slow-reloading) medium and close range weaponry to blast a hole into the enemy formation.

Assault Cruiser squadrons were typically assigned towards leading a column of less well protected Asari cruisers and frigates whom then exploit the weakness created by the Justicars to (hopefully) shatter the formation.

The exemplar of Asari's favorite tactics, exploiting superior survivability and mobility, Assault Cruiser command became so prestigious that elite captains in the Asari navy often chose to command an Justicar over a dreadnought! Although this jousting form of combat proved ineffective against the Zerg, due to the sheer quantities of hostile bioforms, the Terrans, due to the raw power of Yamato fire and barrier-ignoring lasers, and the Protoss, due to being Protoss, the combination of high mobility, advanced armor and powerful barriers meant the Asari's Assault Cruisers still took the least casualties out of the entire Asari Navy.

This was greatly helped by the fact that none of the Justicars were assigned to the ill-fated Koprulu Campaign, mostly because the Republic desired to keep the secrets of Silaris out of Turian/Salarian hands and concentrated most of their Assault Cruisers around their home fleet.

With their industry shattered however, the Asari have prioritized their highly effective Assault Cruiser programme above almost everything else. With the completion of the _Destiny Resurgent_ , the only ships the Republic Remnants willing to build are Justicars.

 **Priestess (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 850m long, 200m wide_

Like the _Shining Path_ -class cruisers, the _Priestess-_ Class dreadnought originated prior to the Rachni Wars, although the sole survivor, the _Grace of Thessia_ was constructed during the Krogan Rebellions, and 'only' has a millenia of service history.

The _Grace of Thessia_ is the sole surviving conventional (single-barreled) dreadnought of the Asari navy, as they prioritized saving the modern dual-barreled DNs.

However, the Asari Republic needs every ship it can get its hands on, and invested industrial resources into giving the last Priestess-class with a Warp Core and fusion reactor. Like other Asari dreadnoughts, the _Grace of Thessia_ has had its prow armor reinforced with Silaris layers once the _Daedalus_ program revealed the Dominion could construct long range Yamato-centric warships.

 **Athame (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 1250m long, 300m wide_

Engineering a single barreled dreadnought when you need to place a giant eezo core as close to the center of your ship as possible is not an easy task. Doing it with two is _much_ harder. It is therefore impressive that the Asari got it right on the first try with the _Athame_ -class dreadnought.

The first mass-production vessel (if Asari hand-built designs could ever be called "mass-production") to feature 1.2km mass accelerator guns, the Athame-class dreadnoughts featured greatly extended effective range and increased firepower compared to conventional dreadnoughts - and with dual barrels, double the rate of fire.

Unlike the Destiny Ascension, the Athame-class did not feature diplomatic decks and other extraneous systems, and so its oversized Mass Effect core (common on practically all Asari designs) meant it could turn just as fast as single-barrel Salarian or Turian designs.

The fact the Asari ship count was not the highest did not matter to the average citizen - for their vessels were definitely the best (in their heads, at least) in every way possible, and these feelings were only intensified after the commissioning of the Destiny Ascension and the following _Athame_ -class dreadnoughts.

While the Assault Cruisers are the mailed fist of the Asari Navy, it is its _Athame_ -class that form the core of its heavy firepower - recognizing this, the Asari devoted every effort into keeping these ships alive; nine of these dreadnoughts have survived, including the lead ship, the _Athame's Wrath_.

Following the reveal of the Daedalus, each Athame-class dreadnought has been equipped with frontal Silaris armor, in addition to Warp core, and a squadron of _Monoskopos_ fighters for close-defense.

 **Destiny Resurgent (Superdreadnought)**

 _Approx 2500m long, 600m wide_

A monstrous, quadruple-barreled design, the _Destiny Resurgent_ is actually narrower than the _Destiny Ascension_ and thus contains _less_ volume. Unlike the previous Asari flagship, what volume it does have is completely devoted to combat purposes.

Compromises were forced by the limited hull volume and need for an even more outrageous flagship after the loss of the Destiny Ascension, in a complete reversal of the former ship's practice of affording all crew a degree of leisure and space, crew quarters have been squeezed down to Dominion-like bunk beds, and even the officer quarters are cramped.

During its construction, the Asari Republic attempted to negotiate with the Salarian Union for their micro-jump drive technology; the Union replied that the only item they were willing to consider of value would be the secret of Silaris fabrication. As the proud Asari Remnants were unwilling to give up their last edge of superiority, the Destiny Resurgent is only a dual-drive ship; Warp and Mass Effect.

Where Salarian dual-barreled dreadnoughts use a Over/Under configuration and Turian/Asari double-barreled ships use an Side by Side configuration to allow placement of the Eezo Core in the center, these designs would be implausible for a quadruple barreled ship without greatly increasing its hull volume. Thus, the ship mounts its quadruple 2km Mass Effect cannon suspended in a single stabilized carriage along the centerline.

The arrangement increases accuracy and reduces recoil, but also forces the placement of the Eezo core backwards, away from the center of the vessel. As such, it is one of the least nimble and most ungainly Asari ships in existence.

Furthermore, armoring the forwards arc proved difficult due to the need to allow the free-floated, suspended weapons carriage to move, and so there are significant gaps in the Silaris plate.

Another trade-off is the fact its 2000m guns are the same caliber and use the same shells as 1200m accelerators; forced due to logistics demands. Although each shot is nearly twice as powerful as that of a 1200m weapon and the range significantly higher, their raw stopping power is not as great as it could have been with higher caliber ammunition.

Despite all these issues, the _Destiny Resurgent_ is one of the most powerful, longest ranged non-Protoss warships in existence - as fitting its status, it has been assigned six squadrons of _Monoskopos_ fighters for defense.

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: V. Adm Alexei Stukov

From: Dr. Schrader

We have hit jackpot, sir.

Ostracized by the large Umojan-Asari community, many 'purebloods' have settled in Dominion space. Dissection has revealed neural structures more conducive to psionics than baseline Asari.

After extensive research, including psionic readings, foetal dissection & genetic analysis, and of course, Culexus device testing against both baseline and pureblood specimens, I hypothesize that active Ardat-Yakshi genotypes are almost certainly even more potent than even pureblood Asari in psionic ability, in addition to possibly stronger biotic power.

The potential for research and experimentation is limitless - I recommend we make it a priority to capture samples as soon as possible.

While we can probably grow our own mature specimens with forced 'pureblood' breeding, these blue xenos take too long to mature for us to obtain results before decades pass - unacceptable.

Yours truly,

Dr. Schrader

Head Scientist, DSS Gagarin


	11. Chapter 11 - UED Naval TOE

**Codex Entry: United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Armada TOE**

The forces of the Human Homeworld are vaguely familiar but distinct from their colonial cousins, in both form and purpose.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Angel (Fighter)**

 _Approx 30m long, 12m wide_

A simple cost-benefit analysis revealed that the weight of not only a pilot, but the supplies required for said pilot, as well as life support systems was more expensive than simply carrying drone fighters controlled by Electronic Defense Initiative. Despite the objections of Captain David Anderson and his subordinates, the Angel Project was approved for pragmatic reasons.

The Angel Combat Drone is normally propelled by ionic thrusters; this drive system consumes large amounts of electrical power to hurl minute amounts of ions the other way at high speed. Given the limitations of non-Protoss engineering, these thrusters provide mediocre acceleration but consumes negligible quantities of reaction mass.

To power the ion drive, the ACD contains a dual-mode nuclear fission reactor - fusion reactors were considered, but even with United Earth Directorate technology it proved impossible to squeeze one into something smaller than a frigate. This further increased the reliance on EDI, as it would be impossible to fit in any radiation shielding and still have combat performance.

Normally, the reactor operates in closed-cycle mode; no coolants are released from the system and radiological contamination is limited to the drone itself. However, when the Angel needs to undergo combat acceleration, the ion drives are throttled down and the reactor switches to open-cycle; venting superheated coolant, providing an intense - if short - burst of acceleration beyond that of any Terran fighter, more than most Council fighters.

The reactor, loaded with an 80% plutonium mixture, is rated for 10 years of operation before requiring refueling, allowing for drones to basically operate forever on ion drive, as ionic thrusters use minute quantities of fuel; greatly simplifying recovery operations.

Directorate Angels are armed with one 20mm green laser and a twin linked 30mm rotary Gauss assault cannon; the higher frequency laser has ~30% more damage output than the Terran Wraith's 25mm red laser, consumes no ammunition, only reactor power, allowing it to be fired for nearly forever.

The Gauss assault cannon's 30mm shells have eight times the kinetic energy of an infantryman's Gauss rifle, and six times the rate of fire. Firing the weapon for more than a half-second burst will cause the drone to fly backwards, unless it is undergoing reactor-venting acceleration.

Although shorter ranged than Gemini missiles or Lanzer torpedoes, the sheer hail of Gauss fire renders the ACD extremely lethal to lightly armored craft at close range and an exceptional point-defense & escort fighter.

When backed into a corner, however, the Angel is at its deadliest. By venting all reactor coolant and ejecting control rods, the drone can erupt in an powerful, and extremely dirty detonation, roughly equivalent to a miniature nuke.

The Angel Combat Drone and its ammunition are both relatively simple by UED standards, designed to be easily reproducible by colonial industrial infrastructure with minimal upgrades; quite good for the UED as the drone's relatively light chassis and heavy kamikaze usage has reduced the Expeditionary Fleet's fighter stockpile below acceptable levels.

To hold down costs (and further reduce complexity) the Angel only carries rudimentary sensors, relying mostly on EDI-connected ship scanners for information.

Another flaw of the Angel is that the highly radioactive secondary drive and weak primary thrusters has lead the UED to forbid usage of the drone in ground-support operations on Garden worlds; the radiological aftereffects from reactor-venting would poison the very Colonials that the Expeditionary Fleet needs!

Finally, wide-spectrum jamming that some factions (such as the Salarians or the Umojans) employ will force EDI to rely on tight-beam laser communications, halving the amount of drones that the Artificial Intelligence can control.

 **Valkyrie (Frigate)**

 _Approx 130m long, 60m wide_

Even with superior fusion reactor and Warp core design, the UED found that it was difficult to create a laser-armed combat-worthy frigate that could be replaced with upgraded colonial manufacturing plants.

Thus, the Valkyrie frigate is armed exclusively with medium-short ranged fixed box-type missile launchers. As a compromise, the magazines were loaded with 128 Shrike ship-killers; equipped with miniature EWAR systems to confuse enemy point defense, resist ECM, and armed with a 100 kt microfusion warhead.

Unfortunately, attempting to build Shrikes even with modified colonial factories proved too demanding a task; so Valkyrie captains were ordered to reserve Shrike missiles for usage exclusively against cruiser-weight or heavier opponents. Even with such a policy, after a series of brutal battles such as Second Dylar, Agria, and the Sixth Battle of Char, Expeditionary Fleet Valkyries are down to a handful of Shrikes each.

Instead of wasting their time attempting to replicate the Shrike, once the UED arrived in Koprulu, immediately post-capture of Braxis, they have had colonial factories build HALO missile systems; crude, minimally guided rockets with standard chemical warheads, more than enough to crush enemy fighters.

The ease of manufacture and low cost means that they can be produced in the tens of thousands every month, their crude seeker systems are so simplistic they are almost immune to ECM and EWAR attempts, and the sheer quantities they are produced in allow Valkyrie frigates to not only drown enemy fighters with sheer weight of fire but even use them for point defense purposes.

The philosophy is, if one misses; one of the dozen others should hit, right?

 _Normandy-_ Pattern

 _Approx 150m long, 80m wide_

The most advanced ship in the UED fleet, the _Normandy_ -Pattern Valkyrie contains a significant portion of (what little there is) the Sol System's Eezo reserves.

Thanks to brilliant calculations done by Academician Zakharov, the frigate's Mass Effect drive can cancel out its gravimetric signature.

This combination of advanced cloaking device, Mass Effect core, and heat sinks renders it completely invisible to all forms of detection that the Directorate was able to test for - although Vice Admiral Stukov believes it cannot deceive a powerful psionic from discerning sentient minds in apparently empty space.

The mass effect core renders it far more maneuverable than anything else in the galaxy - not even the Salarians have managed to fit a Mass Effect drive **and** a Warp Core **and** weapons, supplies & all the sundry other things a warship needs into a frigate.

In order to squeeze in the Eezo core, cloaking systems and the thermal sink, the Normandy was lengthened and widened compared to a standard Valkyrie, its launchers halved in number and missile magazine reduced to a single full reload.

Even so, its crew claims it is exceptionally cramped.

Proper employment of the stealthiest and fastest special operations ship was given to mankind's most elite troops - the veterans of Luna, Captain David Anderson and his subordinates are the most experienced and capable soldiers Sol has to offer.

To support this crack team of N7 special forces, the Normandy is the only frigate in the Expeditionary Armada completely topped up with Shrike shipkillers.

In addition, it has been modified with a spinal-mounted Gauss cannon and burst laser salvaged from wrecked Angel combat drones; although firing these weapons will decloak the ship.

So far, the vessel has had an exceptional performance, easily recouping the investment multiple times over, most notably at the Battle of Dylar where the Normandy managed to hijack an entire Minotaur battlecruiser _fleet_ along with a Daedalus superdreadnought in an operation that has since been humorously nicknamed "Grand Theft Battlecruiser."

 **Ahab (Light Cruiser) [Cronus Wing]**

 _Approx 330m long, 140m wide_

Under the personal guidance of Vice Admiral Stukov, two squadrons of Ahab-class light cruisers have been constructed so far using captured colonial production facilities.

Designed for the sole purpose of crushing Zerg forces with minimal casualties, the Ahab-class is radically different from conventional Terran designs, omitting laser batteries entirely - allowing it to be fitted with a cloaking device.

Primarily armed with _Titankiller_ heavy missiles - basically modified, colonial _Apocalypse_ nuclear missiles, salted heavily with Cobalt for intense radioactive effects - this light cruiser can completely suppress Zerg regeneration, even against Leviathans.

Meanwhile, for close-combat, it is fitted with multiple Gauss autocannon emplacements, and each light cruiser carries a single squadron of Angel combat drones. To further enhance anti-zerg performance, all ammunition issued to the Cronus Wing is polonium-tipped.

Given that the UED is not eager to use nuclear weaponry against Colonials and that the Expedition has only faced minimal Zerg remnants in their Koprulu campaign, the Cronus Wing has built up an extensive reserve of polonium-tipped ammunition and _Titankiller_ missiles.

 **Columbus (Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser)**

 _Approx 620m long, 210m wide_

The core of the Expeditionary Armada, the _Columbus_ -class battlecruiser is arguably the most advanced human cruiser in existence, whether colonial or Directorate. Although its Yamato cannon is based off a Mark IV design, it is capable of storing a charge due to superior fusion core engineering experience, greatly increasing burst capability.

Combined with improved Directorate Warp Core design, the _Columbus_ -class is the only cruiser capable of performing a tactical warp jump and firing it's Yamato cannon immediately afterwards.

Assisted by Electronic Defense Initiative, the _Columbus_ requires an order of magnitude less crew to operate than the _Behemoth_ or _Minotaur_. With a personnel complement reduced from thousands to hundreds, far less space is required for bunks, life support, food and water storage, and can be instead devoted to useful warship systems or structural reinforcement and armor - things the smaller crew is feverently thankful for, since it keeps them alive longer.

By shrinking its size the _Columbus_ is rendered more difficult to hit, and with a sleeker, more elegant profile, incoming shots are more likely to deal glancing hits and get deflected rather than dealing significant damage to the hull.

These factors mean the _Columbus's_ frame is only 10% less durable than a _Minotaur_ , despite being approximately 25% smaller, and its armor is actually even _more_ effective than the larger ship's.

Combined with its superior agility and handling characteristics means that the Directorate cruisers are more survivable under most circumstances compared to Koprulu Sector battlecruisers.

Similarly, the United Earth Directorate standard 530nm-wavelength (green) lasers are more effective against most targets, especially armored targets, than the colonial red lasers, although the Columbus class does suffer from weaker anti-ground performance, due to having fewer ATS (Air-to-Surface) batteries in favor of additional STS (Ship-to-Ship) emplacements; and the Directorate cruiser's **two** squadrons of _Angels_ significantly outclass the single squadron of _Crusaders_ or _Wraiths_ that opposing _Minotaurs_ can carry.

Before launch, the Expeditionary Armada's cruisers were refitted with launchers cross-compatible with Colonial standard _Apocalypse_ -class missile, but even in a standoff-range missile duel the _Columbus_ can match the larger _Minotaur_ , due to higher agility and greater accuracy & stopping power of its laser batteries.

The biggest problem that faces the _Columbus_ class is duplicating it - with colonial industry, the task has proven an impossible so far - although Admiral DuGalle believes that the manufacturing centers of Korhal to be more sophisticated, and if not, perhaps Moria or Umoja may be sufficiently advanced.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Gagarin (-)**

 _Approx 230m, roughly spherical_

The UED take on the Science Vessel is fitted more with genetic and medical research facilities than the _Explorer_ , at the cost of advanced physics systems. Like the Colonial science vessels, the _Gagarin_ -class are lavishly equipped with sophisticated sensors and detection systems, serving as the surveillance arm of the Expedition.

The lead ship, eponymously named the _Gagarin_ , holds some of the Directorate's top Psionics scientist, lead by Dr. Schrader, who is also their top biotic researcher.

 **Reclaimer (-)**

 _Approx 2400m long, 800m wide_

Although the issue of raw firepower was greatly reduced when the Directorate decided to send off the best top-of-the line cruisers to Koprulu, they faced increased logistical difficulties; upgrading colonial infrastructure would be a monumental task by itself.

Hull format based on Doran Routhe's infamous Prison ships, the _Reclaimer_ consists of modular components attached to a spine; fragile compared to any warship, but could be assembled rapidly - in time to launch with the rest of the Armada. These modules are fitted with manufacturing machinery rather than cryogenic pods.

This vast, hulking, but delicate Mobile Production Facility is the most critical vessel in the entire Expeditionary fleet and is kept safely far behind the frontlines.

With a massive array of interconnected industrial modules, the Reclaimer has been slowly upgrading captured colonial factories, allowing them to build improved war materiel and Directorate structures, such as automated hydroponic farms that are critical to feeding the personnel of the Expeditionary Armada.

Now that the Dylarian shipyards have been converted to more precise tooling and Korhal itself soon to be besieged, Admiral DuGalle has retasked the Reclaimer to replacing lost _Columbus_ cruisers using local resources, using it like a mobile shipyard.

 **-]|[-**

 **/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged**

 **WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING**

To: V. Adm Alexei Stukov

From: Dr. Schrader

Sir, as expected, approximately 99% of the Eezo found in an Asari can be recovered through thermal-chemical distillation. Given that roughly 0.03% of each Asari is Eezo, we can extract a useful amount of Element Zero from the Dominion Xeno population alone, nevermind the Asari populations on Umoja or Moria.

Although the current process is relatively expensive and slow, we calculate with industrial methods we can reduce costs by 64%.

Many of my coworkers have suggested sending large quantities back to Sol, since our mobile physics research facilities are quite limited, but I believe when we topple Umoja we will gain more knowledge on Eezo than Earth can recreate in the next decade.

Others have suggested creating a second Normandy-type frigate, but without another crack team of N7 commandos to crew it, it will be far less effective. Personally, I suggest we attempt to create our own biotics - using _colonial_ volunteers for the first test subjects, of course.

Yours truly,

Dr. Schrader

Head Scientist, DSS Gagarin

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Didn't have enough review responses last time to generate a good Q &A section (to be honest, still too few questions) so I combined the questions from C7-C9 here.**

 **Finwee:**

 **Medics (and transports such as the Warp Prism, Dropship) will be covered in a ground-based ToE.**

 **It's just the AVTM asked me to publish these more quickly - and I think he has a decent understanding of Ground stuff, so Naval stuff was prioritized. Does that make sense?**

 **Saris-chan:**

 **Logistics, construction methods, pros and cons, and species favored styles will be covered in an upcoming codex... To be honest, I've already written a Council Space 4X codex and it was Meglomania-approved™ but publishing it before I put up some ToEs would confuse lesser minds.**

 **Then again, do I really want them reading my works?**

 **Knightwalker:**

 **Well, AVTM wanted a weapon that exploded Psionics... there's like, literally no better name.**

 **Pt1oef:**

 **Ah yes, magically fart out a few thousand words and people want even more.**

 **Why don't I wish for a mountain of money and hot babes as well?**

 **A Dark One, AVTM:**

 **Yes.**

 **In fact, have an omake:**

 **OMAKE**

*Citadel Council Room, 10 mins before Protoss show up at Citadel*

"So... you think we _could_ beat the Protoss?" Asked Udina.

"Well, if we all doubled our fleet sizes..." Sparatus responded uncertainly.

"Magically stopped shooting each other, and got together..." continued Valern

"We'd also need to upgrade our tech. Maybe twist the Asari's arms into giving up Silaris?"

"Yeah, it would help if your scientists grew some balls and finished your Thanix project sometime in my lifetime." Valern took this opportunity to snipe at the Turian.

"GUYS. Not helping." the Human councilor interjected.

Both of them turned their heads to look at Udina.

"So, when are you going to teach us how to make Yamato Cannons?"

"When I'm sure you guys won't use them on each other - or us."

Snorting and sitting back down, the Turian councilor thinks for a second. "You know, we might be able to pull it off. If we did all of the above - and forced the Protoss to fight in a deep gravwell so they couldn't just hit the warp button and go on their merry magical space elf way, we could actually win."

*Suddenly, a 74-km Protoss ship, bigger than the citadel exits warp. The sheer scale stuns the Councilors. Predictably, like almost everything else Protoss, it is GOLDEN.*

*Fenix Warps into the Council Chamber.*

"GREETINGS REPRESENTATIVES OF LESSER RACES. WE ARE HERE TO UNITE YOU BEHIND US AGAINST THE *EVIL* REAPER THREAT THAT THREATENS *ALL EXISTENCE*! JOIN THE PROTOSS & FRIENDS CO TODAY!" Booms the Protoss commander.

"Nope. Nope. Nope." Valern gets up, turns around, and smacks into a wall. "Nope. Nope. Nope." Picking himself off the ground, the salarian fixes his course and exits through the door.

"Well, it was a nice dream." Sparatus gets up, and ambles after the Salarian. "Think I'll visit the strip clubs. Maybe hook up with one of the few Asari that doesn't hate Turians."

"..."

"..."

The Terran and the Protoss stare at each other. The moment lasts for a few seconds.

"ER. DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG? I MUST ADMIT I AM NOT USED TO DIPLOMACY - IT IS USUALLY NOT THE PROTOSS WAY." Asked Fenix.

Udina can only slump as his hand met his face in the Picard Maneuver.

 **/OMAKE END**

 **Wow. that was some serious Crack.**

 **Welp, see you next time, on Salarian + Umojan Tables of Organization and Equipment!**


	12. Industry, Logistics & Tech - Council

**Codex Entry: Industry, Logistics and Technology - Council**

The ability of a nation to build and supply its forces have been shaped by not only their inclinations, but also experiences.

 **|Asari Republics**

This is more evident in the Asari Republics than any other faction.

For the Asari, their greatest strength is often touted as their long lifespans. Due to a technological plateau brought along by chasing Prothean technology, Council space's paradigm held true for millennia.

Under these conditions, Asari craftswomen received wide renown across the galaxy for their ability.

Every set of armor laboriously hand-fitted and rigorously tested, guided by the weight of centuries. Each rifle personalized, built with loving care, and tuned to legendary precision. An large Asari family 'guild' would produce perhaps a few dozen products every year.

Then, the Krogan Rebellions happened.

Often, Asari forces would survive the encounter victorious… but with broken armor and damaged weapons. The industry of the Asari, so lavishly focused on individual craftsmanship, could not fulfill the ever growing demand for materiel and supplies that was total war. Even their most dire of projections failed to accurately predict reality.

With mountains of stockpiles being depleted in the very opening phase of the rebellions, the Asari Republics reluctantly adopted Salarian and Turian style mass-production for arming her infantry, and as the war dragged on, even the large vehicle-guilds and aviation-families eventually (and reluctantly) ceded ground to industrial cartels focusing on cost-effective, standardized and sustainable production.

However, due to the relatively weak Krogan naval capability, the Asari shipwrights did not face the same degree of pressure, and survived… until now.

Prior to the Koprulu-Council Contact and the ensuing Great War, each Asari ship's structural components were manually shaped to perfection, every armor plate hand-finished. All systems were physically inspected and tested with great care by Apprentice-Maidens under the watchful eye of the Master-Matriarch.

Like products of Japanese swordsmiths of old, no two Asari frigates from the same 'class' were identical. Except each Asari 'swordsmith' had been honing her craft for centuries, or in many cases over a millenia.

Each group of shipwrights, from the esteemed Thessians, to the upstart Illians had a different set of priorities, emphasizing different aspects of their ship designs, but all had one goal: perfection.

Where the Salarians (and later, the Turians) would rigorously compile known weaknesses of known ship designs, this was of little use when it came to Asari ships, for each ship would have subtly different handling and stress-loading characteristics, depending on builder and date it was built.

However, this extravagant overemphasis on creating units with great individuality meant nothing to the Zerg.

Each Asari dreadnought was painstakingly crafted over decades, but could be torn to shreds in the blink of an eye by the Zerg. They did not care if the famed Silaris plate of an Asari Assault Cruiser could withstand impacts from an Scourge - the Zerg would launch a hundred more to replace them.

Nowhere was this weakness more evident than the Destiny Ascension. Designed from the very start not to be "just another jumped-up Turian flying gun", but the flagship and showpiece of Council Might, the Destiny Ascension featured massive ambassadorial suites, luxurious VIP accommodations, and palatial recreation decks.

Of course, it also was fitted with first-rate barriers and triple heavy (1200m length) catapults. At the time of it's design, it was decried as a colossal waste of resources; as a Council-tech cruiser eating a direct, center of mass hit from an standard (800m length) dreadnought main gun would be crippled or outright destroyed, and no sane fleet commander would position his forces in a way where multiple ships were lined up to get shot by a multi-barreled dreadnought.

The sheer cost of the Destiny Ascension could be used to build four or five conventional dreadnoughts, and without the extra mass of all the VIP support facilities these dreadnoughts could turn and acquire targets far more rapidly, killing cruisers at least four times faster.

As if to thumb their noses at the Salarians and Turians, all Asari Dreadnoughts built after the Destiny Ascension were dual-barreled, 1200m designs.

Over a century later, after the Asari lost their Council seat and the privileges that came with it, the mystery of "What were they thinking?" was solved when communiques from the Asari Councilor to the Republic's leading politicians were unsealed.

These messages revealed that the Asari Matriarchs were 'highly amused' but not surprised that the 'lesser races' did not understand the contrast that would be presented by the Destiny Ascension - on one hand, it is a flying six star hotel, absurdly decadent and outrageously expensive, furnished to match, on the other, it is the largest warship known, the first ship designed to kill other dreadnoughts rather than cruisers - the ultimate combination of carrot and stick.

The Asari hoped to overawe any species they encountered by inviting representatives to greet them aboard their 'mobile pleasure resort' and enjoying themselves (and perhaps the company of omnisexual Asari diplomats) all the while aware that the flagship is also the most heavily armed ship ever built.

However, against the might of the Zerg, diplomacy, intrigue, and intimidation were all meaningless. The massive diplomatic decks on the Destiny Ascension were but dead weight, while its barriers failed under the unrelenting Zerg tide and its guns literally silenced by the huge swarm of Zerg bodies.

One of the few positive things from the Destiny Ascension's unfortunate Koprulu Campaign was that its heavy guns had even more extensive range and power than standard dreadnought guns - which was crucial for holding off the Yamato-armed Terran battlecruisers. After their Koprulu experience, both the Union and Hierarchy have been building only 1.2km long, Asari-derived dreadnoughts, with double-linked main cannon.

Immediately after the Fall of Thessia, commentators predicted that Asari power had been permanently broken. Even the Asari themselves were dejected - but yet, today, they have not only resumed Assault Cruiser production, but also are finishing a monstrous, quadruple main cannon-armed superdreadnought, the _Destiny Resurgent_. How is this possible?

A wealthy, long-lived and _the_ pre-eminent Council species, the Asari were accustomed to living in the lap of luxury, as befitted their status. After the brutal Zerg invasion, however, their former hyperliberal xenophilia and profligate opulence were exchanged for Dominion-like nationalistic fervor and acceptance of a spartan lifestyle.

Secondly, was their industrial reorganization. The surviving Asari industrial cartels, realizing that with current production methods regenerating Asari power was but a pipe dream, broke the political power of the shipwright-guilds. Swallowing their pride and disdain, they asked for aid from the ITSA, whom initially offered Terran industrial capacity towards building Asari roads, farms and hospitals, and then Asari mines and factories with some hefty technology and Element Zero bribes.

Although the Independent Terrans refused to share SCV or automated factory technology, they were convinced to build near-Asari specification ship components for Eezo. Reworking their designs around Terran manufacturing limitations, the Asari Republics have assembled multiple squadrons of new-build, Silaris-plated Assault Cruisers. Fitted with both Eezo and Warp Drive, the resurgent Asari Navy is mobile and deadly. If only they weren't absurdly outnumbered...

 **|Turian Hierarchy**

In comparison, the Turian war machine has always been (and steadily becoming even more so) more machinelike than any other faction, even that of the Terrans. Turian children are raised with expectations of duty, the understanding that they may be called upon to die for the cause. They are drilled in military discipline from a young age.

Turian equipment, while not of low quality like products of Batarian State Arms (pre-KMC takeover) emphasize cost-effectiveness and reliability, as well as ease of manufacture. Turian lives, though not cheap, are secondary to victory.

Compared with the Asari, who have a very distributed industrial system where each significant Asari planet has significant industrial capacity, Turian industry is heavily centralized around Palaven. While other star systems can manufacture components or process materials, the only turian dreadnought yards and their largest cruiser and frigate assembly plants orbit their capital.

Their logic is both cold blooded and sound. By concentrating their critical-warmaking industries around their capital, it is impossible to knock out the Hierarchy without taking out the most heavily fortified world. Its shipyards are protected by near-countless defense platforms, its subterranean factories defended by over six billion souls, its very moons turned into orbital fortresses bristling with anti-ship weaponry.

This concentration of industrial ability in one place has lead to excellent economies of scale. Their dreadnought construction program is the most rapid in known space, building a dozen dual-drive, dual-cannon dreadnoughts in the last four years alone, and projected only to accelerate.

Since encountering the Koprulu sector, the turians have built more dreadnoughts than the Asari still possess.

However, the Turians are not without weaknesses. Their industrial plant is crude, inefficient and inflexible compared to Terran automated manufacture. A large fraction of their fleet has not yet been refitted with Warp Drives, and must rely on the Relay network, due to the sheer size of their military.

Many of their client species, such as the Volus, have become dissatisfied with being another cog in the Turian Empire. Large areas of their territory, some holding critical mining operations, are vulnerable to potential revolts.

Compounding this problem is the fact that the Turians are unsuited for fighting in the environments of some of their client races. Famously seen during the Irune campaign, the dangers of an high pressure ammonia environment meant that injuries barely breaching their armor - which would cause perhaps a flesh wound - became fatalities.

Even in rare cases where the wounded Turian soldier had his armor patched and resealed before dying, their lungs would often suffer permanent damage and the survivor afflicted with life-long complications.

This, of course, increases the bitterness many a Turian feel towards the Volus. Entire fleets were rerouted from critical fronts - from defending Turian lives, in many cases, to save the Volus. Millions of Turian soldiers died to protect planets even more hostile to their survival than the Zerg, and the cowardly Volus repaid their sacrifices with sedition and treason.

While orbital fire would suffice if extermination were their objective, the most valuable asset of Irune are the Volus financiers - and the taxes they pay to the Hierarchy. Not to mention the backlash and loss of legitimacy the Turians would face if they began violating Council laws they swore to uphold.

Worst of all, like many other avians, the Turians are a carnivorous species, which means that unlike the omnivorous humans and asari, they must consume large amounts of meat. Each ton of meat requires an order of magnitude more crops to be raised for the meat animals. To supply their empire, dozens of agricultural planets must harvest mountains of feed, while entire blocks in each city are gigantic freezers. Cut off from nourishment, the Turians would be vulnerable to starvation.

Although the Turians had been building a massive food supply, they expended a large amount of it supporting frontline troops during the Zerg Invasions.

In cases where troops had been cut off from supply, some had even attempted to find out if Zerg flesh could be eaten - with terrible consequences.

 **|Batarian Hegemony**

Long the laughingstock of Council space, current Batarian logistics are perhaps second only due to that of the Protoss, due to heavy investment into Waygates, connecting not only KMC-Batarian space, but also the ends of the Batarian Hegemony and the Terminus Systems.

With each KMC world burned or conquered by the Dominion's implacable, supercapital-backed advance, more and more KMC refugees stream through these Waygates into both the Terminus and the Hegemony proper.

Coming by the dozens of millions, these refugee-colonists bring with them Terran automated manufacture and expertise, and have sharply increased the industrial output of the entire Hegemony. Batarian State Arms underwent a Morian corporate takeover, increasing both quality and profits due to a reimagined (and predictably cutthroat) KMC business model.

Meanwhile, the KMC's innovative and fresh ideas for the usage of slaves have taken the imagination of the Batarian upper classes by storm. Entire new industries have formed as they seek to follow the fashionable new trend; indeed, 'The Slave Games' have become the most popular extranet series in Hegemony space, raking in record profits for Moria Media Corporation while simultaneously adding another item to the list of reasons for the Council to root for the Hegemony and KMC's swift downfall.

Although many more conservative elements of the slaveholding society have strenuously objected to the rapid change and inclusion of millions of non-Batarians as non-slaves, other elements have been either blackmailed, bribed, or threatened into line by the current Hegemon's cabal - as this change has been key to the transformation from an friendless, backwards third-world space nation to a rising power; the Hegemony are the only major Council-space faction to be experiencing an economic boom.

Overruling the objections of the High Priests of the Hegemony and thousands of years of tradition (where no non-Batarian had ever risen above Freeman status) multiple KMC industrialists have been made members of the Hegemon's Cabal, while other KMC politicians have become the first non-Batarian planetary governors.

Their naval technology, however, falls behind other factions. Although Terran manufacture is effective and flexible, KMC engineers have little idea how to optimize around Eezo-based designs, nevermind hybridizing Terran and Council tech.

The situation is equally as bad for Batarian engineers, whose initial designs could be described as 'One step above Krogan space-going rowboats', worsened by the refusal of Council species to share technology and insights with the pariah Hegemony.

After the countless skirmishes with Turian patrols, Batarian engineers settled for attempting to outnumber the local Turian forces and strapping as many guns as possible to each ship, with little consideration of stress loading or long term endurance... which often caused significant problems.

The Batarian Overseer-class heavy cruisers were decommissioned less than a decade into its service due to the inexperience of Hegemony naval architects; for example, the lateral structural framing is too stiff, so firing all its broadside weaponry simultaneously would literally rip support beams out of the ship's spine.

With KMC assistance, these obsolete flying deathtraps have been refitted with MK2 Yamato generators, but this required extreme compromises (and more money than the KMC wanted to spend), such as reducing supply storage to only two weeks, stripping out most of its starboard weaponry, and reducing dorsal barrier strength and armor.

Further flaws were found after refits; Batarian power relays did not actually meet design specifications as the contractor utilized substandard materials to save on costs; so charging the Yamato device at 100% power would backfeed into their fusion reactors with explosive results. After three Overseer (Mod 1) heavy cruisers were lost, remaining captains have been ordered not to exceed 80% rated power levels on a discharge, and the power relay manufacturer's entire family was enslaved as a punishment.

Armed with BC-scale Yamato cannon, these Overseer Mod 1s are fast and hard hitting, but the ship itself is an aging maintenance nightmare with multiple near-fatal flaws, and are undergunned in terms of conventional firepower.

Much of the Batarian naval force suffers similar issues; during the Battle of Thessia, the light cruiser _Thresher of Turin_ did not have functioning toilets. The crew abandoned ship to join Batarian ground assault teams, declaring they'd rather face the Zerg than the nauseating smell onboard.

New KMC designs combining Mass Effect technologies and Terran manufacture have been prototyped, but have not reached satisfactory levels of operation. In any case, given the immense demands of fighting the Dominion invasion, the KMC-Batarian axis has little room for experimentation.

 **|Salarian Union**

Salarian territory is the smallest out of the major council factions.

Even after the Fall of Thessia and loss of the Asari home sector, the Republics cover more volume than Union space, never mind the holdings of the Turian Hierarchy or Batarian Hegemony.

Long content to control their birth rates and focus on inwards development, Salarian core space is the most built up of all species. Although Sur'kesh itself does not have a remarkable industrial output (due to lack of resources and environmental concerns) their home system as a whole, Pranas, has an industrial output rivalling that of Sol, handily outstripping Illium, Korhal, Umoja, even Moria and Palaven.

Under these circumstances, the Salarian Union chose to concentrate industry around complexity rather than sheer scale; instead of centralizing all dreadnought production around Sur'kesh, they instead have gathered their UV lasing element production, superconductive transmission fabrication, and EWAR research around their highest concentration of intellectual capital.

With the ability to prototype systems as soon as they were theoretically conceived, the development time for Salarian military technology was the shortest in known space. Multiple generations of Salarian research, development, production, and feedback would occur before a single Turian or Asari R&D cycle completed.

However, this brought the Union fleet's costs up through the roof. In order to reduce the expense of replacing 'obsolete' hardware, the Salarians embraced modularity to a degree no other race can compare to.

By the time of the Krogan rebellions, ships were nearly completely modular; Salarian shipbuilders could not predict which system would need replacing next, so whether it be main reactor, drives, power relays, sensors, weapons and defenses, they all needed to be easily removable.

And since replacing the main reactor on a normal ship without cutting open half the hull was plain impossible, they made the structure highly modular as well.

This grossly simplified Salarian logistics. Replacing a burnt-out UV cluster on a Salarian ship was now simple as detaching the defective assembly and inserting a new one, whereas Asari and Turian engineering teams often needed hours of cutting through hull and patching up the mess afterwards to replace an laser cluster.

Of course, making your ships out of Lego blocks, no matter how you overlap them, leads to sharp limitations in structural integrity, especially if you intend to ensure that said Lego blocks are easily removable/replaceable.

Traditionally, the Union emphasized advanced barrier technologies (even if the accursed Asari would laugh and just throw more Eezo at the problem) and more powerful and accurate GARDIAN systems to compensate for these deficiencies.

Under times of peace, most of the Salarian Union naval elements are owned and operated by their parent family-corporations. During times of emergency (such as the post-Koprulu Salarian-Turian Cold War) however, the Union Navy is supposedly under the command of the central government - but there has been much resentment of the heavy-handed actions of the Salarian Union's current High Dalatrass.

Lately, Salarian society has become strained as the Union officially adopted a strategy of growth, repudiating their former doctrine of strictly controlled birth rates. Taking advantage of their amphibian biology, Salarian matriarchs have been giving birth to record sized-egg clutches, with each year's birth rate exceeding the last.

With an enormous percent of their population retraining or cross training as educators, Salarian growth is beginning to look Krogan-like. It is estimated that the Union's population will double within the next decade, and match that of the Hierarchy within half a century.

This threat is further exacerbated by the fact an Salarian male is considered mature after only eight years of age, and that the first of the massive-post Koprulu boom generation will reach adulthood rather soon, placing the Hierarchy command structure under an immense pressure to attack before the Salarian population growth gets to dangerous levels.

* * *

 **A/N: Mad props to AVTM and Kaoupa for going over this (and the next 2) chapters. Q/A response will occur on the the third chapter.**

 **Also, I realize I didn't answer your question, since this isn't really a shipyard codex, Saris - so I'll treat you again and give you a simplified explanation.**

 **For Council species, units were traditionally produced in bigass space stations. Lately though, they've begun adopting Terranized methods, although they aren't quite there yet, and don't have the automated factory systems to really exploit it.**

 **For Terrans, they use giant open-space scaffolds equipped with industrial manipulator arms in an assembly-line like manner.**

 **SCVs and specialist construction EVA suits (and their workers) help install parts as the chassis moves down the assembly line. The skeletal scaffold is durable enough for industrial work, but super cheap (compared to a space station) and construction speed can be accelerated by making more factories to ship up components faster, and lengthening/adding parallel assembly lines.**


	13. Chapter 13 - Salarian Navy TOE

**Codex Entry: Salarian Union Naval Table of Organization & Equipment **

Unlike Turian and Asari ships, Salarian vessels do not have significant protrusions like fins, wings or stabilizers - their modular hulls are fragile enough _without_ extra things to get shot off, thank you very much. Their larger ships tend to have a vertical profile - taller than they are wide, in comparison to the more horizontal Asari and Turian designs.

Despite their fragility, however, there is no doubt - especially after the fall of Thessia - that the Union Navy is the most advanced force in Citadel Space.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Kerahime (Fighter)**

 _Approx 28m long, 16m wide_

Like the Turians, the Salarians recognize the grim necessity for fighter warfare. Unlike the Hierarchy, however, the Union does not have a core set of beliefs of duty, honor and valor - seeing them as mostly frivolous.

Where many capable Turians to volunteer for their strike craft corps, spurred on by the near-worship of heroic aces, and perhaps induced by the success fighter pilots often find in seeking out bedmates, the Salarians have no such benefits and must resort to drafting their common criminals and genetically least desirable individuals into their fighter corps.

Predictably, the low morale of their pilots result in extremely unfavorable casualty rates - which snowballed into high desertion rates. The Union Naval Board responded with draconian punishments for deserters and a near-prisoner like treatment of fighter pilots, further decreasing Salarian strike craft operator morale. The unofficial motto of the Salarian fighter corps is "Slightly more expendable than a Zergling."

Mechanically speaking, the Salarian _Kerahime_ is a good fighter. It is the only non-modular Salarian naval combatant, as the Salarian Naval Board does not see the need to continuously upgrade units with such high attrition rates - and as such, has a frame durability on par with other Council fighters.

Although slightly slower than the Asari _Monoskopos_ , it has superior ECM systems, including the ability to invert their EWAR functions - instead of "jamming" or "obfuscating" their fighter's location, it instead temporarily broadcasts the emissions signatures of a Salarian frigate. While this will overheat its internal power supply, it can be tactically advantageous to divert fire from more valuable Salarian ships to a fighter.

Salarian pilots are grimly certain that their craft come with remote overrides to activate said system.

 **Victus (Light Frigate/Yamato Suicide Drone)**

 _Approx 101m long, 46m wide_

Recently leaked onto the extranet, the exposure of formerly secret _Project Koprulu's Kiss_ has driven Union officials to accuse the Protectorate of breaking "a gentleman's agreement" and chilling relations between the two powers, although Umojan representatives insisted "we were not behind this leak."

This light-frigate sized drone is the bastard child of Salarian attempts to reverse-engineer a viable Yamato cannon from Cerebus blueprints of Dr. Mikihiko Chiba's original Mk I wave-motion device prototype. Unlike the Turians, who gave up once they realized that the blueprints were flawed and following them would lead to personnel losses, the Salarians took it as a challenge from Cerebus to build a workable Yamato-based platform.

With typical Salarian Ingenuity™ and miniaturization capability, they have devised a weapon that does not attempt to fully shape and contain the fusion reaction - and have managed to create Yamato blasts exceeding the output of even Mk V systems found on new Umojan and Dominion battlecruisers.

Naming the drone after Adrien Victus, widely regarded as one of the greatest Turian heroes and even worshipped by the Asari, the Turians were uncertain if it was an insult or a compliment. Predictably, the Union has left the matter ambiguous, stating "It does it's job, then explodes." resulting in a livid response from the Hierarchy.

To reduce costs, the _Victus_ drone only has basic thrusters, no Eezo core, no reactor - only a plasma capacitor. Even so, the drone costs more than a pair of heavy frigates.

These cost-cutting measures introduce interesting weaknesses; for example, to keep up the illusion that the _Victus_ is just another frigate in a formation requires that the other units reduce speed - as Eezo drives are much faster than plain thrusters - and that the Yamato-suicide drone needs to be charged from a Cruiser or larger ship's reactor - a process taking a considerable amount of time, depending on the host ship's power level.

 **Sentinel (Frigate)**

 _Approx 140m long, 66m wide_

During the Rachni Wars, Salarian naval planners realized that for pure point defense purposes, a Frigate could mount almost half as many GARDIAN emitters as a cruiser. The smaller ship was far more likely to be able to evade an incoming Dreadnought round, and if it got hit, well, better to have lost a frigate than a cruiser which easily cost four (or more) times as much.

Their naval philosophy evolved towards a primarily Dreadnought-Frigate composition, with specialist tasks that could not be fitted into a lighter unit performed by Cruisers. The general idea was 'If we must commit to (barbaric) battle, we'll position our heavy hitters behind a literal wall of point defense platforms, which are much more effective than cruisers at smashing targets. Let the (silly) Asari play at being Knights-in-Space - the wolfpack is for armed reconnaissance and to force repositioning.'

By the time of the UV GARDIAN system, their navy had adopted an 8 : 1 ratio of frigates to cruisers - drastically different from the Asari and Turian 1:1 ratio. Even the Batarians have a more even 3:1 ratio.

It was thought that this would prove a fatal flaw after the discovery of the Terran Warp Drive; as it proved impossible to add a Warp drive, Eezo core, useful amount of weapons, defenses and supplies into a frigate sized vessel, but the Salarians have found a viable (although, suboptimal) workaround: see the _Empress_ -class in the **Non-combat Spacecraft** section of this document.

Their modern _Sentinel_ -pattern frigate was initially designed after the mass introduction of Ultraviolet lasers to the Salarian fleet. Armed with literally nothing but UV clusters, the Sentinel is not much more than a can of UV lasers, powerplant, Eezo core, basic barriers and minimal supplies and crew space.

One special feature of this frigate is the ability to slave its weapons to input from an _Inquisitor_ electronic warfare cruiser, allowing it to discern decoys and false sensor signatures from actual targets. The higher resolution sensors also significantly increase accuracy and effectiveness at range.

Due to the sheer amount of UV laser clusters (and min-maxing of design to power said clusters) the _Sentinel_ is not only an exceptional point defense frigate, but also quite lethal in close combat - just don't expect it to survive many hits.

 **Stranaka (Light Cruiser) [Special Tasks Group]**

 _Approx 330m long, 90m wide_

Named after a famous captain of the Salarian Special Tasks Group, the _Stranaka_ -class's relatively light armament belies true danger.

Carrying exquisitely powerful sensors, the Stranaka can survey targets from unheard of ranges. Equipped with some of the most powerful Eezo drives in Salarian service, the light cruiser can outrun patrols and then drop off its payload - STG agents - using orbital drop pods.

With a multitude of compact but capable laboratories, STG personnel can analyse enemies rapidly after an encounter, giving the Salarian Union one of the fastest reverse-engineering and threat-response speeds in the galaxy.

Pre-Koprulu, these STG cruisers carried modular outer panels - radar reflective components that could alter their ship's appearance, literally re-skinning their ship, altering its visual image and radar profile.

These outer shell components could be remanufactured on demand with a small internal fabricator to alter the ship's disguise when necessary. Although replacing the modules would reveal the disguise to any who saw, STG crews almost always found secluded, out of the way locations to carry out the task. This "disguise" system proved extremely effective - that old leaky Batarian ore hauler could be scanning your fleet, or that unassuming Turian food transport might actually be carrying teams of STG agents onboard!

Post-Koprulu, these cruisers were the first Salarian vessels to receive upgrades. Now carrying a full-spectrum cloaking device in addition to its old "disguise" system, it can literally become invisible (for a moderate duration) when necessary, massively enhancing its infiltration capabilities.

To provide space for these critical, new Koprulu derived components, such as reactor and Warp Core, the _Stranaka_ had its spinal accelerator removed - in their place additional nuclear missile launchers were fitted to the exterior of the hull to provide fire support for STG infiltrators.

 **Inquisitor (Cruiser/Electronic Warfare)**

 _Approx 450m long, 120m wide_

The most numerous Salarian cruiser, the _Inquisitor_ completely omits broadside weaponry (other than UV GARDIAN systems) and uses the freed up hull volume for extensive ECM and EWAR systems. Although it has a fairly powerful cruiser-grade spinal accelerator, that is merely a bonus in most circumstances.

Under normal operation, the Salarian cruiser 'obfuscates' itself and allied units; it can't negate their sensor signatures and completely cloak them Protoss style, but it can distort them, giving enemy targeting systems a sense of uncertainty of where their targets actually are, significantly reducing enemy accuracy.

When necessary, the _Inquisitor_ can stop obfuscating and focus on precise signature cloning - when combined with drones, it can do things like make their cruiser count appear much higher than normal, or make ambushing units seem like powered-down wrecks, ripe for salvage.

As the Salarians long suspected the possibility of cloaking, and were afraid of a similarly morally inclined race suddenly "Alpha Striking" them, the _Inquisitor_ -class is lavishly fitted with multi-spectrum sensor arrays. As an afterthought, they were tied into the fleet datalink grid, allowing the cruiser to aid other ships in target differentiation and acquisition; Salarian naval officers were pleasantly surprised by the increase in efficiency, far beyond their expectations.

Like Turian cruisers, the _Inquisitor_ carries one squadron of fighters.

Its below average armor, structural framing, and shielding (and above average _cost_ ) of an _Inquisitor_ means that Salarian wolfpacks protect their cruiser instead of the other way around. Given the fragility of frigates, never mind Salarian modular frigates, their wolfpack uses a rotating formation, where units in the front constantly rotate to the back of the formation to recharge their barriers.

One problem with the _Inquisitor_ is that due to the increased emissions profile from its Warp Core and reactor, the Salarians have found it nearly impossible to add a cloaking device to the vessel - and it interferes with ECM operations while active. In any case, Salarian ships are getting extremely cramped, and naval architects do not believe they can remove any more systems without reducing the ship's ability to perform its role.

 **Saviour (Cruiser/Repair, Salvage & Logistics)**

 _Approx 480m long, 200m wide_

With a Union Priority rating of Primaris - 02, the _Savior_ -class cruiser is regarded as more important than anything save Dreadnoughts in the Fleet. Despite this, the _Saviour_ is only armed with UV GARDIAN systems, and has no accelerators of any kind, no torpedo bays or missile racks - its importance lies in the vast stockpile of components and supplies onboard. The cruiser's cargo bays reveal a dozen macro-scale industrial manipulator arms, which are used to operate on objects in its immediate vicinity, usually to repair or salvage them.

For operations where usage of the armatures are impractical, the cruiser carries two squadrons of _Resuscitator_ drones. Fitted with smaller mechanical arms and a dual-purpose plasma cutter/plasma welder, these drones are like an single-purpose version of the Terran SCV.

Teleoperated by a crack team of engineers carried on the _Saviour_ , they can quickly diagnose problems and conduct emergency repairs. Under the direction of a skilled crew, replacing a burnt-out UV emitter is but a matter of minutes.

Indeed, it could be said without its logistics cruisers, the Salarian fleet's doctrine of using high-performance, high-maintenance systems would be completely unviable.

One flaw of the _Saviour_ (other than its light armament and fragility) is that installing a Warp Core and fusion reactor has forced naval planners to remove the strike craft bay, preventing it from carrying a squadron of _Kerahime_ fighters.

This has rendered the _Saviour_ even more reliant on friendly units for protection.

 **Keystone (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 830m long, 190m wide_

A conventional, single-barreled Dreadnought, the sixteen _Keystones_ were the linchpin of Salarian strategy, pre-Koprulu. Despite its structural fragility, the _Keystone_ was one of the hardest-to-kill DN designs in existence, due to being lavishly equipped with sophisticated barriers, ECM systems, and assigned the most elite crews in the Salarian Union - every sailor (except those of a Special Operations inclination, perhaps) desired to serve upon these dreadnoughts.

However, since the Great War, the single-barreled dreadnought has become a dying breed. Despite losing zero DNs in the Great War, only eleven _Keystones_ remain.

The Union, realizing their smaller empire could not match the Hierarchy in construction speed, have cannibalized their five of the older dreadnoughts for components and Eezo cores to speed up the construction of their dual barreled designs. To maximise the usage of their industrial resources, only four _Keystones_ have been upgraded with post-Koprulu technologies, since the rest of the single-barrel Dreadnought fleet is slated for scrapping.

The few units that have been upgraded, however, are almost certainly the most lethal single-barreled Dreadnoughts in existence - the Salarian single-purpose Micro-Jump drive is capable of performing a Tactical Jump using only one-fifth of the energy required by a full-scale Colonial Warp Core.

This advantage is gigantic - even the United Earth Directorate's Mark IX core only shaves 25% off the energy requirement for a Warp Jump, being a general purpose system.

While installing a second Warp Core (and reactor system) into most warships - forget vessels that also intend to carry an Eezo drive - is highly impractical, Dreadnought scale vessels have enormous volumes to work with. Further compounding the advantages of a triple-drive architecture is the installation of a full-spectrum cloaking device. While mass accelerator fire is far less disruptive of stealth systems than energy weaponry, firing a Dreadnought-scale accelerator will definitely decloak the vessel - but it is not intended to stay invisible the entire time.

Current Union doctrine intends for it dreadnoughts to fire, cloak, then micro-jump. While stealthed, and as long as the enemy's sensor coverage is insufficient, the _Keystone_ will have all the time in the world to line up another shot on something critical, preferably an enemy supercapital.

Keystones have extensive strike craft bays, carrying three squadrons of _Kerahime_ fighters.

 **Dalatrass "Tyrant" (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 1200m long, 280m wide_

With equal mobility, same stealth capability of a _Keystone_ , combined with multiple times the main battery firepower, the nine _Dalatrass_ -class dreadnoughts are the ace in the hole for the Salarian Union against the massive numerical superiority of the Turian Hierarchy, leading Turians to nickname them "Tyrants", a nickname even the Salarians have adopted.

Replicating the century-old Asari _Athame_ -class dreadnought on a Salarian pattern, the _Dalatrass_ has quickly become the highest priority for Salarian production. Despite the industrial strain and economic cost, another two _Dalatrasses_ are slated for commissioning by the end of the year - and at the cost of another scrapped _Keystone_.

Aside from the twin-linked main guns, the _Dalatrass_ also features enhanced forwards barriers to increase survivability in spinal accelerator-armed supercapital duels.

Each _Dalatrass_ has carries five squadrons of _Kerahime_ fighters.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Empress (-)**

 _Approx 1800m long, 460m wide_

During the arms race between the Union and the Hierarchy, both nations began a program where they would purchase the Eezo core of older freighters and refit them with a free Warp core.

Nonetheless, military observers were puzzled when the Salarian Union straight up purchased multiple massive bulk cargo freighters. Some of the largest civilian ships in existence, larger than even dreadnoughts, these transports were designed to haul vast mountains of goods but at relatively _slow_ speeds - buying them was not a very cost effective way to obtain Element Zero.

Months later, the Salarian Union revealed the _Empress_ -class carrier. The ship had been altered to a single spinal spar with large scaffolding structures attached - equipped with frigate cradles. Each _Empress_ had sufficient space to carry forty eight frigates, and its oversized Fusion reactor - necessary to drag the hulking vessel through warp - could charge Yamato drones at high speed.

If necessary, an _Empress_ can install a fighter bay in lieu of four cradles, allowing each carrier to bring up to twelve squadrons of _Kerahime_ fighters to battle, or a mixture of frigates and fighters.

Despite its vast size, this carrier is an extremely fragile - and unarmed - vessel. Current Salarian doctrine is for an _Empress_ to warp in, unload its cargo, and evacuate to a safer location.


	14. Chapter 14 - Umojan Star Navy TOE

**Codex Entry: Umojan Star Navy,** **Table of Organization & Equipment **

The only Colonial nation to have significant oceans (and thus a customs-keeping Coast Guard), the Umojans have appended "Star" to their Navy to make the distinction clear.

They are probably the most advanced Terran faction, and their fleet is likewise much more dangerous than its relatively small size would lead one to believe.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Impetus (Heavy Fighter)**

 _Approx 36m long, 20m wide_

Even before the end of the Great War, rare encounters with VI operated technology lead the Umojan Protectorates towards seeking their own automated combatants as a way to make up for their numerical inferiority.

Despite multiple (rather unpleasant) encounters with Salarian STG personnel (and their extreme propensity for hacking) the Umojan Assembly voted to "go droid" in the aftermath of the Asari's expulsion, thanks to extensive lobbying by the politically powerful Toha family, majority owners of the eponymous Toha Heavy Industries.

The first product of the (humorously named) _Project Droid_ , the _Impetus_ fighter's physical form is one-hundred percent identical (to visual, radar, and UV sensors) to the _Vindicator_ , even including a false-cockpit. Under the skin however, the fighters are different as night and day.

Firstly, the _Impetus_ uses a carbon macropolymer chassis, reducing the weight of the fighter to nearly one-fourth of the Vindicator's. With a less massive craft, the amount of Element Zero required is also reduced to one-fourth as much - an immense relief for Umojan Treasury officials!

Being piloted by a Virtual Intelligence, significant volume, mass, and power savings are achieved by removing life support systems. Without the need to power a plasma cannon or cloaking device, the Impetus uses a simple (and cheap) chemical power supply, virtually identical to that of the _Wraith_ or _Crusader_.

Although its 30mm Gauss autocannon is a cost-effective mass produced weapon rather than the custom-built high precision (and fantastically expensive) version found on the Shadowguard craft, both have virtually identical weapons signatures.

As such, as long as a formation of Vindicators and Impetuses only use Gauss weaponry, do not engage in plasma-venting maneuvers and desist from engaging cloak, the extremely important (and costly) Shadowguard-carrying _Vindicator_ is nearly impossible to distinguish from the expendable (and cheaper) _Impetus_.

Still, the need for Element Zero for these fighters has lead the Protectorates to instead focus on production of the _**Custodio-**_ **class frigate.**

 **Vindicator (Heavy Fighter)**

 _Approx 36m long, 20m wide_

Made possible only by the prodigious concentration of psionics in Umojan territories, every _Vindicator_ is crewed by a Shadowguard.

Close or even medium range ambushes are all but impossible, as the vigilant pilots psionically detect enemy minds. Knowing which way the enemy pilot is going to maneuver before he does is an insane advantage in a dogfight. Inspired by Protoss Phoenix squadron's incredible teamwork, the Shadowguard further developed their telepathic abilities to link up in a sort of 'battle gestalt', allowing their coordination to surpass even the control limits of a Protoss Carrier or EDI's combat drones.

Although Umoja is still by far the most psionic-friendly nation, such a publically prominent role has caused some fear of "mind controllers taking over."

Despite the rumors of Shadowguard telekinetically flinging enemy fighters, spokesmen have called this "pure fantasy" and multiple pilots have explained the difficulty of grabbing onto an enemy fighter with your mind while the two of you are zooming around at extreme velocities.

However, the rarity of psionics, even for the Umojan Protectorates, have caused multiple limitations. There are so few Vindicators that the even the Asari Monoskopos seem numerous in comparison

To conserve their precious human resources, each of these fighters are loaded with only the most advanced technology, and exceed the price of a small frigate.

Unlike a _Wraith_ or _Crusader_ , which use chemical thrusters, the _Vindicator_ and its VI operated cousin, the _Impetus_ are the first purely Terran fighters to use an Mass Effect drive, massively increasing agility. To power its high energy systems (such as a plasma cannon), the Umojan fighter carries a miniaturized plasma capacitor, allowing a _Vindicator_ to generate multiple times the power output of a _Wraith_ or _Crusader_ \- for a short duration.

In an emergency, the Shadowguard pilot can directly vent plasma, greatly enhancing agility and speed by sacrificing combat endurance, but this is rarely done - once the Vindicator is out of power it cannot use any of its systems and the pilot a sitting duck. Primarily armed with a 60mm tank-scale Phased Plasma Cannon, the _Vindicator_ can completely ignore most sub-cruiser strength Kinetic Barriers and is even effective against Protoss Shielding. However, the plasma cannon drains the plasma capacitor at a prodigious rate, and thus their pilots have gotten good at using its secondary armament, a 30mm automatic Gauss weapon.

Unlike the UED variant, the Gauss cannon on a _Vindicator_ are custom built to extreme precision - many of them with handmade components crafted by Asari craftswomen who immigrated to the Protectorates. Each round is manufactured to high precision and then individually inspected before being issued to the Umojan Fighter Corps - made possible by the fact there are so few Umojan fighters.

Although the cost has skyrocketed, the Vindicator's gauss weapon is like a sniper rifle - a fully automatic sniper cannon, in the hands of some of the most powerful psionics in the galaxy.

Its internal bays have space for four heavy missiles or eight fighter missiles, which are usually loaded with EMP warheads - the Umojans are loath to use nuclear weapons, especially near garden worlds.

Defensively, the _Vindicator_ is constructed from a single-piece neosteel frame, greatly enhancing its toughness relative to non-Protoss fighters, and equipped with significant kinetic barriers, allowing it to shrug off most kinetic/missile fire from enemy fighters and even survive frigate-scale weaponry. However, Umojan doctrine prefers not getting hit in the first place, preferably not even seen in the first place, and the _Vindicator_ carries a full spectrum cloaking device.

Loath to lose valuable personnel, even these protections are regarded as insufficient, and the Umojan Star Navy has assigned a _**Kurzweil**_ **-class Science Vessel** to each _Vindicator_ squadron, simply for Defensive Matrix purposes; see see the _Kurzweil_ -class in the **Non-combat Spacecraft** section of this document.

 **Custodio (Light Frigate)**

 _Approx 95m long, 35m wide_

The second product of _Project Droid_ , this distinctive, arrowhead-shaped sublight drone frigate has become the most widely produced ship in Umojan fleet. Powered by a miniature fusion core, the Custodio is primarily armed with 610nm yellow-spectrum laser clusters - identical to those found on Umojan Behemoths, and a close-in-Gauss autocannon turret.

Given the extensive Umojan infrastructure supporting the assembly of their Behemoths, _Custodio_ production has been surprisingly cheap.

These design choices, however, have lead to accusations of corruption and nepotism, as the Pasteur family owned multiple _Behemoth_ -component factories, and their companies were in danger of bankruptcy from the end of the _Behemoth_ construction program.

With fusion thrusters just as powerful as those found on a _Valkyrie_ , and a chassis massing 25% less, _Custodio_ frigates are designed to scout ahead of the main body of the Umojan armada, while supported by its fighter forces.

Unable to fit in a Warp Core, Protectorate designers specifically made the _Custodio_ lightweight and small, allowing them to attach themselves to the exterior of a battlecruiser and be carried into combat; a _Behemoth_ can safely carry three and a _Minotaur_ or _Horatio_ can easily bear four.

Due to its VI's very friendly (some say adorable) personality matrix, this frigate has become easily the most popular ship in the Umojan Star Navy - even becoming the protagonist of a mindless extranet series named "the Adventures of Custodio-chan".

As a result many Protectorate worlds have requested additional flotillas of Custodios, resulting in 24/7 nonstop production of this drone frigate - and increased revenue for the Pasteur and Toha families.

Both Councilor Pasteur and Toha Heavy Industries spokesmen have denied funding "frivolous extranet shows based on Virtual Intelligence-girls operating our warships."

 **Behemoth (Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser)**

 _Approx 700m long, 280m wide_

This aging battlecruiser design is ubiquitous to all Colonial factions. Traditionally, the Umojan variant played a part in strategic deterrence against the Confederacy through a policy of Yamato supremacy - and for a time, the Umojan Behemoth's advanced 610 nanometer (yellow) lasers and more powerful wave-motion weapons made the cost of conquering Umoja too high to the Confederates.

However, these older ships, some of them already having been refitted a dozen times, are more than obsolete; their aging fusion cores unable to supply sufficient power or handle the stress caused by a Mk V Yamato systems, their already overburdened chassis unable to load any more systems, their archaic layout and networking ability unsuitable for VI-optimization.

Adding insult to injury, as part of a political compromise, the Umojan Assembly voted to decommission eight squadrons of Behemoths for cost-saving purposes, reducing the fleet count to a mere one hundred eighty two active Behemoths.

As with other Behemoths, the Umojan pattern can carry one squadron of heavy fighters, though the paucity of the Umojan fighter force means most do not.

 **Horatio (Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser)**

 _Approx 750m long, 320m wide_

During the period of colder relations between the Protectorate and the Dominion, the Umojan Assembly realized the need for a fleet of advanced cruiser (or battlecruiser) sized units to accompany its _Archangel_ program.

Unleashing their Shadowguard operatives on the Dominion, Umoja quickly acquired the blueprints for the _Minotaur_. However, due to heavy lobbying from Toha Heavy Industries, the Umojan Assembly demanded that the Umojan Star Navy revise the design to use Toha VI automation systems.

Initially, this change allowed the _Horatio_ -class to reduce their crew requirements by an order of magnitude, from three thousand to three hundred, but after multiple Salarian infiltration attempts (that were only caught when a Shadowguard operative noticed something strange) the design was altered, emphasizing decentralization, multiple redundancies, manual overrides, and human oversight of critical systems.

As a result, the _Horatio_ still requires six hundred crew, but even a fivefold reduction of crew (and thus, life support, supply, and bunk requirements) has had a tremendous positive impact on the Horatio's combat capability, permitting additional systems, increased structural reinforcement and armor.

Utilizing the latest fusion core design, the _Horatio_ -class mounts a Mark V Yamato generator. Swallowing their bile, the Umojan Admiralty purchased LarsCorp (a major KMC cartel) defensive matrix generators for their newest battlecruisers, potentially enabling levels of survivability rivalling Turian dreadnoughts, for fusion core energy equivalent to a Yamato charge. These LarsCorp emitters do not create gaps in the armor of the Battlecruiser, and the generated field is 'tighter' (i.e. nearly no damage leak) but overall has lower shield strength than the Science Vessel based system. Like the original _Minotaur_ design, the _Horatio_ has fighter bay space sufficient for one squadron of heavy fighters.

Unlike the Dominion, the Protectorate has little interest in using their Battlecruisers for planetary invasion purposes, and thus the _Horatio_ mounts very few ATS batteries, proportionally less than even the Directorate's _Columbus_ -class. In their place, additional STS weapons are equipped, greatly increasing its ship-to-ship lethality.

The greatest flaw of this battlecruiser, however, lies in its tiny count. Initial _Horatio_ construction was delayed due to political disagreements. Later, dissatisfaction due to its high cost (relative to the Behemoth) stalled funding from the Assembly, requiring lobbying efforts from the Pasteur family to restart construction.

Then, a scandal revealing that the Horatios included LarsCorp components led to a massive strike in Toha facilities, where personnel from janitors to VI scientists (some of whom were members of the Toha family itself) chanting slogans such as "No slave labor involved in our navy!"

By the time Arcturus Mengsk declared Valerian his heir, the Protectorate had produced little more than two dozen - three squadrons and change - of their _Horatio-_ class battlecruisers, at which point, the Assembly, seeking to reduce military spending, cut the projected _Horatio_ fleet from one hundred sixty units to thirty-two, basically halting cruiser construction.

Initially dismissing the rumors of Braxis, it took the Fall of Agria for the Umojan Assembly to restart _Horatio_ production, and after the Sixth Battle of Char there has been much debate in the Assembly about building the full complement of one hundred sixty units - or even more.

 **Archangel (Superdreadnought)**

 _Approx 2000m long, 380m wide_

The pride of the Umojan Star Navy, the _Archangel_ has been labeled by numerous military analysts as the most lethal non-Protoss warship in the galaxy.

Using the same VI automation as the _Horatio_ , the _Archangel_ has a fivefold reduction of personnel requirements when compared to the _Daedalus_ , and more advanced Umojan fusion core engineering allowed them to produce achieve greater power from a smaller reactor.

Naval designers used the space savings for heavier neosteel frame, redundant systems, and ship plating, resulting in a significantly more durable vessel than the _Daedalus_. Though no faction (save perhaps the Protoss) can achieve energy generation density sufficient to power a superdreadnought-scale defensive matrix, Toha scientists reached a breakthrough on partial matrices.

Discovering that previously unstable partial matrix fields had metastable phases, they have developed modified emitters based on the LarsCorp design, governed by powerful, dedicated VI systems. The frontal arc of an _Archangel_ is fitted with overlapping Toha matrix systems, allowing it to be sleeved in a partial defensive matrix- and leading to massive patent lawsuits between LarsCorp and Toha Heavy Industries, worsening the already terrible KMC - Umojan relationship.

Although the energy requirements of operating this defense will reduce the rate of fire from its main weapon, it grants Umojan commanders the ability to massively increase survivability at the cost of firepower; and even with its matrixes offline, the fine, elongated bullet-shaped hull form often causes incoming weapons fire to glance off instead of solidly connecting.

Mass Effect-based kinetic barriers were considered, but the vulnerability to energy weapons fire was deemed too severe, and in any case defensive matrix emitters did not require precious, rare Eezo.

The Elohim-pattern Yamato generator has superior beam confinement characteristics compared to the Icarus system, greatly enhancing destructive potential and range; tests have shown that contact with an Elohim beam can disintegrate a battlecruiser in less than two seconds!

Equipped with an Eezo drive, general purpose Warp core, and a microjump (design stolen fron the Salarians by Shadowguard agents) drive, the _Archangel_ is capable of turning on a dime, matching the normal space speed of conventional (non-Eezo) frigates, and possesses the ability to use both Mass Effect and Warp long distance FTL.

The ability of an Salarian dreadnought to microjump, instantaneously repositioning for a low energy cost is an immense advantage - but when instead fitted to an Umojan long range continuous wave-motion beam warship, the result an instrument that can annihilate entire fleets.

The Archangel, however, is not perfect.

In addition to its fantastic price tag, the energy emissions from a live Yamato generator, especially one at dreadnought scale, is all but impossible to disguise - and completely obviates the possibility of installing a cloaking device.

Due to its smaller hull, compact, solid design, and extra systems, the _Archangel_ has less volume for fighter bays compared to the _Daedalus_ , and typically is assigned one squadron of Vindicators and three wings of Impetus fighters.

Operating its powerful next generation reactor requires a team of crack engineers to maximize its output without breaching containment.

The maximum range of the Elohim beam exceeds even the reach of the Archangel's impressive sensor suite, and thus to fully exploit its advantages an Umojan commander must have good reconnaissance and intelligence.

The greatest flaw of this superdreadnought, however, is common amongst the Umojan capital ship flotilla - numerical inferiority.

After the overtures of peace from Mengsk and public crowning ceremony for Valerian as Crown Prince - complete with marching soldiers, overhead battlecruisers, and crowds of cheering Dominion citizenry - the Assembly voted to reduce military spending, slowing down the _Archangel Program_.

Three Umojan SDs were completed before the Assembly halted construction on the fourth and fifth unit, although construction has since resumed on the fourth superdreadnought (imaginatively named _Sins of a Solar Empire_ ) since the Blitzkrieg of Dylar IV. Like the _Horatio_ , there has been much debate about building additional units.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Expurgo (-)**

 _Approx 170m long, 55m wide_

The third and final product of _Project Droid_ , the _Expurgo_ was borne out of both fear and appreciation of the Salarian Union's capabilities. Like a frigate-scale, unarmed version of their famed and feared _Inquisitor_ cruisers, the _Expurgo_ is equipped with a dizzying array of electronic warfare systems and sensor suites.

Fitted with an aggressive VI and powerful supercomputing banks normally found on science vessels, the _Expurgo_ vigilantly monitors fleet datalinks and constantly searches for enemy hacking or disinformation attempts, and uses spare computing cycles to optimize firing solutions of smaller craft using input from its superior sensor grid. Unlike the _Inquisitor_ , however, the Umojan frigate mounts dedicated lasercom uplinks to aid and control friendly fighter squadrons, even in the face of wide-spectrum jamming.

Reportedly fascinated by the design, the Salarian STG have made multiple attempts to acquire (through purchase, trade, or straight up theft) the drone ship from Umoja. So far they have been denied at every turn.

Like its smaller atmospheric-only, turbine equipped Independent Terran System Alliance cousin, the _Expurgo_ houses a fabrication array, capable of constructing miniature combat drones, point defense platforms, and even warheads in an emergency. Unlike the _Raven_ , however, the Umojan unit's larger, more complex fabrication system allows it to repair friendly mechanical units by assembling SCV-like drones.

Stripped of offensive weaponry and equipped with heavy fusion thrusters, the _Expurgo_ is designed to match the speed of the smaller _Custodio_ , though a battlecruiser can only carry half as many EWAR frigates as their light frigates.

Unlike the other products of Project Droid, the _Expurgo_ is equipped with rudimentary life support systems, and can support a crew of three for three weeks, or three months if the crew are sealed inside skinsuits or pressurized armor - though there are concerns that the fusion reactor's shielding is insufficient for long term organic habitation.

 **Kurzweil (-)**

 _Approx 240m long, approximately spherical_

Personally designed by Valerian Mengsk, a scion of the powerful Pasteur family and a prominent archaeologist in his own right, before being elevated to becoming a Crown Prince of the Dominion, the _Kurzweil_ is surprisingly well thought out. Although lacking enormous advantages when compared to the _Explorer_ , the Kurzweil's interior layout is efficient and maximizes usage of internal space without resorting to a labyrinthine series of corridors.

Its critical physics instruments, such as Matrix generators are located near the core of the hull, both reducing the amount of power relays (and thus, power leakage) and making physics experiments easier.

Placing the Irradiator near the ventral apex (and away from crew quarters) not only fulfilled the designer's desire to "reduce the incidents of accidental radiation poisoning" and simultaneously simplifying biology experiments, but also making Irradiation slightly more effective.

Networking the separate UV, thermal, gravimetric and radar dishes together required considerable usage of Toha Heavy Industry VI mainframes in the design, leading some members of the Pasteur family to wonder if Valerian was secretly a fan of their rival.

The change, however permitted an ad-hoc virtual interferometer setup, greatly increasing both scan depth and sensor range. The designer stated "the important thing is that scientists can now scan a potential dig site much more finely - and rapidly - than before."

Valerian even made modifications to the EMP missile launcher - now it could also fire off deep probes; missiles with a sensor package in place of a warhead.

Finally, the _Kurzweil_ was equipped with an upgraded Warp core and oversized fusion thrusters, citing the need to "get to dig sites before black market dealers loot them dry."

* * *

 **A/N: Again, my thanks to Megalomania-chan and Kaoupa-tan for going over this.**

 **Questions and Answers:**

 **Finwee:**

 **Yes, the Protoss have been starfaring for less than the Asari, but they A) got sweet, sweet Xel'Naga tech to boost them up and B) weren't stuck on Eezo-only tech by Prothean/Reaper manipulations.**

 **Knight-mech:**

 **Yeah, the UED realised they'd need to bring at least one design that A) can be reproduced by colonial machinery and B) is superior to local stuff.**

 **Homega:**

 **Firstly, slow down and spell your words clearly, man. I had to read your reviews twice.**

 **The Protoss lost in SC1 because they got f***ed by the Conclave's herp derp.**

 **Herp, no way primitive species could ever threaten us.**

 **Derp, there's no way these disgusting flesh bug things are our brothers created by the Xel'Naga. Heretic, die!**

 **Herp, there's no way they'd ever dare to invade Aiur.**

 **Derp, we don't need to take them seriously, we'll beat them with one hand tied behind our backs AND beat you, fucking heretic/traitor/rebel!**

 **Annnd then billions of Protoss died, the biggest center of Protoss civilization (including research facilities, most of their factories, and most of their people) got wiped out, their Arks got smushed in their launch cradles without ever being used. Lel.**

 **Yeah, the Asari way of war - exploiting superior mobility and durability - has quite a few things in common with the Protoss way. Their ground army even more similar to the protoss army, lol.**

 **Eh, the Angel and Columbus are named by AVTM, who, you know, is the fucking original author of the series. I'd blame leftist upbringing, focused on how Columbus bent over the native americans, except Blizzard themselves named one of the colony ships _the Reagan_. Like, who the fuck would give two shits about Reagan in a few centuries?**

 **Of course, you could probably also blame that on political Kool-Aid, lol.**

 **Kaoupa:**

 **SHHHH. Don't point out the flaws in SC2 logic!**

 **Forever-Alone Gundam,** **Dark** **Emo One:**

 **The UED leadership is incredibly ruthless, yes, but so are others.**

 **The UED are doing it because they think they can get away with it, and they have almost no Eezo.**

 **Mengsk would totally stick Asari in a blender if the Risk/Reward ratio and Cost/Benefit analysis worked out for him; but he realized he can't get away with it, the reward is not worth the risk, and he was too busy invading the KMC to really research hybrid Council/Terran tech in any case.**

 **Salarians have exactly zero moral objections to distilling Asari, but A) they know they can't hide it, B) the amount of Eezo they'd get is miniscule compared to the Element Zero Mines they already have and C) it's just not worth pissing off the Asari Republics.**

 **Saris-chan:**

 **Hulls stored in vacuum degrade extremely slowly, especially if they are depressurized. Electronics and other stuff that makes your ships useful (unless you're the Krogan, and have insanely crude ships) degrades pretty quickly without shielding and stuff.**

 **If you pick a spot in deep space, you get much less micrometeorites and radiation.**

 **But yeah, it speaks volumes of how good Asari craftswomen got, that their ships lasted over a millennium and a half, even with maintenance and refits.**

 **The Asari, despite being a race of beings that look like women, are having some extreme d*** compensation issues. They know that sticking four huge guns on a single weapons bay is risky, and they know that the Destiny Resurgent is hilariously expensive. But they're a bunch of blue space hipsters, so the more people tell them it's not a good idea the harder they want to be a special snowflake. They still have their pride - and its still the longest ranged non-Protoss ship in existence, even longer ranged (although, probably less deadly) than an Archangel, with like more firepower than 40% of their fleet put together.**

 **Anderson, Shepard & Co have argued against giving EDI such ridiculous control, but the fact is, invading would be at least an order of magnitude more difficult without EDI to reduce the amount of crew required, because the Zerg did almost no damage to Koprulu compared to canon.**

 **The Ahab is great at fighting organic things (especially Zerg) and good at ambushing opponents. However, it would get annihilated against most naval units in open battle.**

 **The charge - jump - shoot ability of a Columbus is unique amongst terran cruisers, and its one of the reasons the UED are winning with fewer and smaller ships. They still bled a fuckload of Valkyries, especially at Sixth Char, but those can be replaced with colonial manufacturing tech.**

* * *

 **Anyways, that was a _loooong_ A/N session. I'd be totally delighted, except I have less than 30 followers (;_;), so it's basically the same 10 dudes reviewing my stuff over and over again.**

 **Before I leave, let me make a recommendation:** _Vigil_ (10665659) by _Peptuck -_ Mankind has survived its crucible, and while scarred and changed by the Ethereals, they advance into the cosmos. The galaxy beyond is a place of wonder and terror, of wealth and strife. Amid the threats and opportunities, both within and without, XCOM remains vigilant. Mass Effect/XCOM/Eclipse Phase/FEAR/Destiny fusion.

 **I used to GM Eclipse Phase, so this immediately interested me. The technology, worldbuilding and setting are all done well, but the best part is the characterization and connections, things happening earlier set up what happens later extremely well.**

 **Not everyone will like this fic, but some will love it, so give it a try!**

 **See you next time (on Dominion & Turian Tables of Organization and Equipment)**

 **NewAgeOfPower**


	15. Chapter 15 - Dominion Space Forces TOE

**Codex Entry: Dominion Space Force** **, Table of Organization & Equipment**

The most conventional and 'purely Terran' of the Colonial nations, the Dominion uses rugged, proven systems and exploits the sheer size of it's empire, multiplied with the productivity of Terran automated manufacture to shore up its deficiencies with bulk.

Their colossal manufacturing ability allows the Dominion to compensate for its naval weaknesses with monstrosities such as the Thor (armed with anti-orbital cannons) and massive Surface-to-Orbit ion cannon installations; the only other faction with surface-to-orbit capabilities rivaling them are the Turian Hierarchy.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Wraith (Heavy Fighter)**

 _Approx 25m long, 30m wide_

First employed during the Guild Wars, squadrons of Wraiths could perform hit and run attacks on more massive, more valuable capital ships and quickly became a staple of Terran aerospace supremacy.

Later fitted with a cloaking device, the Wraith's ability to avoid enemy sensors - and target locks while battering opponents with waves of Gemini missiles greatly increased the reliance of Terran militaries on previously civilian Science Vessels for their extensive sensor suites.

Fitted with a simple 25mm burst laser, the was sufficiently low power that it did not disrupt the Wraith's cloak yet accurate enough to hit ground targets while performing fly-by runs.

Powered by a simple chemical power cell and propelled by basic Hydrazine thrusters, the _Wraith_ was a cost-effective, easily mass producible unit and built in huge numbers. Despite its obsolescence, the Dominion still fields nearly two-thousand of these fighters, most of which are attached to its aging _Behemoth_ battlecruisers or used to garrison the least important Dominion worlds.

 **Crusader (Heavy Fighter)**

 _Approx 39m long, 35m wide_

The successor to the Wraith following the Great War, initial _Crusader_ designs were intended to be used with a Mass Effect-based propulsion system for extreme combat agility; the resulting Council refusal to trade Element Zero - and Turian/Salarian arms race drying up the market - forced a rethinking.

Instead of a high agility weapons platform, the new _Crusader_ was to be a heavily armored, heavily armed "fighter" that defeated enemy units not through conventional fighter tactics but by being able to endure more damage and being armed with heavier weapons.

The result is a heavily armored missile carrier approaching the size of a miniature corvette. In order to fit into Wraith-sized docking bays, the Crusader must use actuated machinery to fold its wings. Faced with complaints about toxic Hydrazine fuel over garden worlds, the Crusader instead uses a methane-oxygen chemistry for primary propulsion and hydrogen peroxide afterburners for maneuvers.

Powered by a chemical powerplant similar to that found on the Wraith, the Crusader is also equipped with a full-spectrum cloaking device. Favorite Dominion pilot tactics are to go invisible then use upgraded Haywire missiles (with superior seekers, larger boosters, and an heavier warhead) to punish enemies.

Despite heavy losses against the Kel-Morian Combine and the United Earth Directorate, the simple design and rapid production means has resulted in the Dominion fielding over four-hundred squadrons of Crusaders; a force rivaling the Salarian fighter corps in size.

 **Behemoth (Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser)**

 _Approx 700m long, 280m wide_

Despite having made it a priority to replace Behemoths with Minotaurs, the sheer amount of materiel inherited from the Confederacy ensures that the Dominion still has a massive flotilla of these obsolete units.

The old Confederate-pattern Behemoth is armed with multiple red laser ATS and STS batteries, slightly favoring weight of ATS fire, judging that the wing of Wraiths it carried would allow it to win in ship-to-ship combat.

Though they carry a bank of sixteen Apocalypse-class nuclear missile launchers, the Apocalypses are slow and relatively easy to shoot down with laser batteries, requiring saturation fire to overcome enemy defenses, and are thus rarely used.

While flawed and aging compared to the Minotaur, most easily evidenced by their armament of the last-generation Mark III Yamato generator, they are still some of the more lethal units flying around in the galaxy; after all, two hits from a Mark III Yamato cannon will destroy a Directorate _Columbus_ (or practically everything sub-dreadnought in scale) any day, and their heavy laser batteries, while inefficient, are still capable of chewing through armor and destroying light units.

Despite having scrapped or sold half their _Behemoth_ fleet (many to the Kel-Morian Combine, ironically) the Dominion still fields nearly three hundred of these older battlecruisers.

 **Minotaur (Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser)**

 _Approx 750m long, 320m wide_

The newest model of Battlecruiser, the _Minotaur_ incorporates lessons learned from Terran-Council battles, and heavily prioritizes structural integrity. Minotaurs feature a reinforced neosteel frame as a result, dramatically increasing their hull strength; unfortunately, the Council has simply moved on to producing dual-barreled dreadnoughts, worsening the tactical picture for Minotaurs.

Primarily armed with a Mark IV Yamato cannon, the Umojan Protectorates offered limited quantities of Mark V systems for sale in a nonaggression pact (resulting from declaring Valerian Mengsk as Crown Prince). Minotaurs in general have increased laser batteries and armor plating levels compared to the Behemoth, and through parallelized mass production the Dominion has made purchasing hundreds of Minotaurs economically feasible.

The biggest change from the _Behemoth_ , however, is neither the increased main battery, nor the more efficient fire control computer, or even the upgraded Yamato cannon - but the fact the _Minotaur_ now carries a squadron of Crusaders in lieu of Wraiths; affectionately called "assault bricks" by battlecruiser captains.

 _Crusader_ pilots, however, uniformly detest the nickname.

 **Daedalus (Superdreadnought)**

 _Approx 2200m long, 488m wide_

The first true Terran supercapital vessel, the Daedalus is a continuous wave motion Yamato-centric warship, serving in an artillery role similar to that of traditional Citadel Council Dreadnoughts. Designed around a single heavy main weapon, the Icarus Weapons System, the Daedalus is capable of not only matching the range of Council DNs but burning through capital ships even faster than the Council unit. Given that Yamato wave-motion weaponry bypasses Kinetic Barriers, this was quite concerning for the Council Races.

During its first combat at the _Second Battle of Braxis_ , the _Daedalus_ easily proved worthy of its investment multiple times over, soundly defeating the Protoss force - for the first time where the Firstborn were not heavily outnumbered.

At the _Fourth Battle of Char_ , a _Daedalus_ -class superdreadnought was crucial to shattering the KMC counterattack with minimal casualties. This intensified the already hot Council-space arms race, and even forced the normally non-militaristic Umojans to begin their own military buildup.

Although each Daedalus is greatly superior to a conventional mass-accelerator armed dreadnought in destructive output, the Daedalus lacks an element zero core, crippling its maneuverability and ability to reorient itself. While a Daedalus will destroy a Turian Pax-class Dreadnought in over 92% of simulations, the win rate drops to 87% against the _Imperator_ -class dual barreled DN. And these simulations are against single units - the Turians, for example, field thirty-one Paxs and twelve Imperators.

Despite losing a _Daedalus_ to the United Earth Directorate during a lightning-speed raid at Dylar IV, the remaining five _Daedalus_ -class SDs are plenty lethal - not to mention the fact another three are under construction in shipyards orbiting Korhal.

Though the UED encirclement of the capital has prevented many critical component deliveries, the factories of Korhal can produce practically every part found in the superdreadnought.

One of the largest warships in existence, each _Daedalus_ mounts laser batteries equivalent to two Behemoths and carries six squadrons of Crusaders for defensive purposes.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Explorer (-)**

 _Approx 200m long, roughly spherical_

One of the oldest Terran ship designs still in service, the _Explorer_ -class science vessel was intended as a civilian research and exploration vessel - it had a lightly armored hull, intended to stop micrometeorite damage, no weapons systems and no way to disguise itself.

However, due to the mass usage of cloaking devices - most easily countered by the Science Vessel's large sensor suite - during the Guild Wars caused Terran powers to draft Explorers into military service.

During the (relatively rare) Zerg encroachments in Koprulu, Science Vessel operators discovered the Irradiator performed most excellently against the purely organic hostiles, while even weaponry such as Yamato cannon and Protoss heavy armaments could be survived with the usage of an Explorer's Defensive Matrix.

By the time of the Great War, Explorers had been fitted with an EMP missile launcher to deenergize critical systems on enemy vessels; even capable of draining Protoss shields.

While the _Kurzweil_ -class has mostly replaced the _Explorer_ in Umojan service, the cheaper (and still effective) Explorer remains heavily employed by the Dominion and Kel-Morian Combine.

* * *

 **A/N: Insufficient questions to make a Review Response session.**

 **Turian Fleet Tables and Codex: [CENSORED] have been withheld on order of AVTM. They'll be released whenever he gives the go-ahead...**

 **A/N#2: Thanks, Khaan.**


	16. Chapter 16 - Asari Ground Forces

**Codex: Asari Ground Forces**

Pre-Koprulu, the Asari Republics did not heavily invest into their military forces; especially the ground arm. Like most of the Citadel races, they did not feel much of a need, due to the power of the Turian Hierarchy and its tens of millions of soldiers.

Despite this, the Asari still maintained a very well-known and respected fleet, and their commandos were seen as the finest troops available to the galaxy. However, the previous aura of Asari invincibility vanished during the havoc wreaked by the Zerg Overmind and the ensuing Fall of Thessia.

 **|Combat Units**

 **Acolyte (Infantry)**

The basic Asari infantrywoman is equipped in Serrice medium armor; lightweight, moderately protective, and equipped with excellent barriers. Still, as unpowered armor, the Acolyte's protection is quite limited compared to the walking tanks that some sets of power armor have become.

The Acolyte's most important tool, is neither her Serrice armor nor her Armali combat rifle, but her biotic abilities. Practically every Asari can biotically **Throw** an infantry-sized opponent, which is quite handy for handling small numbers of opposing infantry.

 **Asari Biotic Commandos (Infantry/Heavy Infantry)**

The traditional Asari basic infantry, Commando training takes far too long to form the bulk of a multi-million women army, and thus Commandos have become as their name suggests - the special operations arm of an Asari force; somewhat analogous to the Terran Ghost or Shadowguard Corps.

Even in the twilight of their nation, the Commando schools have managed to maintain their traditions, and as such, Asari Commandos are generally equipped and trained along the following lines:

 _Stalwart_

Equipped with a midrange submachine gun and enhanced Kinetic Barriers, Stalwart operatives further increase their survivability by specializing in **Biotic Barriers** ; their Barriers are some of the strongest amongst Asari, greatly increasing survivability.

Although not a particularly prestigious Commando specialization, Stalwart operatives tend to have the highest survival rates and are the most common.

 _Virtuoso_

The oldest Commando school, Virtuoso commandos tend to be an elite, standoffish bunch. Equipped only with a handgun, they are trained heavily in **Warp** and **Reave** ; some of the most devastating biotic abilities in common usage.

During the ill-fated Koprulu Campaign, Virtuosos were some of the few infantry that proved effective against Protoss shielding.

 _Fury_

One of the rarest Commando schools, Fury operatives are trained exclusively in melee combat, and are the only Asari Commando school which has adopted powered armor (see **Asari Marine** below) for its operatives - other schools all uniformly utilize traditional unpowered light or medium armor. As could be imagined, they utilize a powerful **Biotic Charge** technique to quickly close the gap and tear apart their opponents utilizing biotically empowered omni-blades. While they tend to have impressive kill-scores, Furies have also have an atrociously high casualty rate.

There are also rumors that some Furies can generate a massive biotic "cloud" capable of disintegrating matter, dubbed an **Annihilation Field** , for both offense and defense.

 _Huntress_

Long the least glamorous of the Commando schools, often patronised as 'mere marksmen', the Great War has dramatically revised both the general opinion and the actual capability of Huntress operatives.

After witnessing Terran psionic agents empower their sniper rifle's next round, Huntresses have developed a somewhat similar biotic ability; named **Warp Shot**. As one could imagine, empowered sniper rounds with effects similar to a biotic Warp are quite devastating, greatly increasing the respect opponents have of Huntresses.

The ones who don't tend to end up dead.

 _Nightwind_

A formerly illegal, underground Ilium-based Commando school, the Fall of Thessia and resulting prominence of Ilium in Asari politics has resulted in the legalization of the Nightwind school and their operatives.

Armed with an medium-range submachine gun, the Nightwind commando's specialty lies in biotic abilities unique to their school; the first of which is commonly known as **Dark Channel** (true name revealed only to Nightwind students), creating a metastable Biotic field which slowly crushes its target.

Insidiously, when the Biotic field kills an organic target, the field then locks onto another organic target; needing only minimal direction from the operative. Further enhancing their disturbing public image, Nightwind commandos are the only Asari operatives to be equipped with full spectrum cloaking devices.

 **Asari Marine (Heavy Infantry)**

Somewhere in between the Acolyte and the Commando in terms of training and numbers, the Asari Marine Corps has become one of the most prestigious organizations in the Republics, despite the fact it is less than a decade old.

Equipped with advanced Eezo-based suspension harness and heavy power armor approaching the size of a Umojan CMC-0 hardsuit, the AMC-100 grants every Asari Marine the ability to directly insert onto a planetary surface.

Combining biotic powers and a miniaturized Mass Effect drive with impressive Kinetic Barriers, the Marine can accelerate herself past normal terminal velocity and impact the ground - and any unfortunate enemy - with force equivalent to a heavy tank's main gun. Most importantly, she can survive the impact, ready for battle.

Equipped with a copy of the Turian Phaeston combat rifle, combining both Mass Effect and Gauss technologies, the Asari Marines have firepower that would be unimaginable to pre-Great War Council infantry.

Unlike Terran Marines, the Asari Marine combat drug of choice is not only a metabolic stimulant but also a biotic stimulant, increasing the Asari Marine's ability to use **Throw** and **Barrier**. This drug is formulated for safety, in contrast to the Terran Stimpacks - its effects are much weaker, but is longer lasting and less hazardous to the user's health.

 **Ascendant (Heavy Infantry)**

Long disdained by Asari society, the situation for the Republic Remnants is sufficiently dire that they have allowed their Ardat Yakshis out of imprisonment. Long rumored to be among the most powerful biotics in existence, Ardat Yakshi were recently proven to be psionically sensitive as well, providing the Asari Republics with a significant reservoir of potential psionic combatants.

However, the distrust of the average Asari citizen for these legendary boogeyman is immense, exceeded only by that of the Justicars. Upon hearing rumors of what the Republic's politicians were planning, many Justicars began butchering captive Ardat Yakshi in monasteries, stopping only when Matriarch Aethyta proposed a compromise - each Ascendant would be sealed within power armor, preventing them from coming into direct contact with other individuals.

Furthermore, each suit of Ascendant armor would have a small shaped charge built into the helmet, linked to a remote control, and said control would be given to a member of the Justicar Order - trapping the Ardat Yakshi in a suit with an killswitch.

Once negotiations had concluded, Justicars who perpetrated these unforgivable crimes (mass murder, even of Ardat Yakshi) all committed ritualized suicide, maintaining the public image of the Justicars.

Upon discovering this horrific treatment of Ardat Yakshi, both Kerrigan and Umojan Shadowguards withdrew from the Ascendant training program, and the Republics have resorted to hiring former Confederate ghosts (competing against the Kel-Morian Combine) on the grey market with Element Zero to train Ascendants.

Though morale among Ascendant forces is incredibly low, their sheer power - some of the strongest biotics recorded - render them a terror for the enemies of the Republics. These abilities are further enhanced by low-level psionics; while utilizing both psionics and biotics simultaneously is extremely difficult, Ardat Yakshi are natural empaths.

Similar to how skilled Terran ghosts could sense opponents telepathically and instinctively prioritize them and target them, Ardat Yakshi can feel the locations of enemies and biotically strike their weaknesses before the opponent knows what is occurring.

Like Asari Marines, they can biotically deploy from orbit - except with an order of magnitude more force. Where Asari Marines impact like a tank shell, an Ascendant drop is closer to an orbital strike. Ascendant armor is even more impressive than Asari Marine suit - firstly, it is plated in the unmistakable black nanocomposite known as Silaris, massively increasing the damage resistance characteristics of the suit. The suit has no hands or conventional weapons, instead equipped with biotic amplifiers in their place.

To withstand the impact (and fit in upgraded shock buffering systems) Ascendant armor is significantly larger than Marauder gear. With upgraded Kinetic Barriers that would not be out of place on an vehicle, the armor's protection level is extremely potent - before considering the sheer power of an Ardat Yakshi's **Biotic Barrier**. Of course, opponents rarely survive the storm of biotic and low-level psionic techniques that Ascendants employ, many of which were once exclusive to the Justicar Order or Ghost Corps.

While some Ardat Yakshi have, under extreme emotional stress, used a combination of psionic and biotic abilities to **Crush** their opponents, they have been difficult to reproduce on demand - probably made more difficult by the fact that Justicars tend to execute Ardat Yakshi they feel are 'growing too powerful to control.'

Videos of Ascendant troops in action against Zerg remnants have dramatically increased Asari citizen's morale; the common response is along the lines of "We definitely can reclaim Thessia!"

Of course, it also led to calls from the Asari public to forcibly conscript all remaining Ardat Yakshi for battlefield duty - a proposal that is fracturing the Justicar Order.

 **Razorback (Light Vehicle)**

When the Asari began the restructuring of their military, one of their first realizations was the need for a ground vehicle that fit with their combat philosophy; an agile, mobile, yet sturdy unit that could destroy critical objectives and retreat just as quickly.

Their first attempts, modeled after the Terran Vulture, were quickly abandoned after the Asari decided the landspeeder was not only overly reliant on 'dangerous, illegal, and inhumane' Spider Mines but also was 'too much of a deathtrap.' (Every major Terran faction save the Umojans took offense to this statement).

Stymied, the Asari military reached a breakthrough when a combined Protectorate-Republics expedition to the ruins of Tarsonis unearthed a hardened bunker. Within, were contained both blueprints and working models, for a vehicle codenamed 'Diamondback'.

The hovertank that the Confederacy was prototyping perfectly suited the Asari's preferred battle doctrine; the Diamondback achieved mobility approaching Council-space Element-Zero propelled battletanks despite containing no Mass Effect technology whatsoever. Armed with twin linked railguns, the Confederate hovertank had a good range of engagement distances in addition to being hard-hitting. The chassis, like most Terran designs, was not only rugged but optimized for efficient manufacture.

The Republic's version is known as the _Razorback_. As they adapted the design for their own needs, Asari engineers removed one railgun and shrank the turret, to make space for an Amplified drive, further enhancing mobility. A unique Eezo Core invented by Serrice Council engineers centuries ago, the Amplified Mass Effect Drive is designed to be easily empowered by powerful biotics… like Asari crew.

Long considered an academic curiosity, due to the relative paucity of Asari military ground vehicles, the Amplified Eezo core allows a skilled (and biotically talented) Razorback crew to perform maneuvers such as 'hopping' over obstacles, boosting its speed even further, reinforcing its Kinetic Barriers, or empowering its railgun. As could be imagined, such activities are physically exhausting even for the most skilled Biotic personnel, but the tactical advantages are immense.

 **Aurora (Light Vehicle)**

One of the most controversial (to Asari citizens, at least) projects of the Republic, the _Aurora_ extensively utilizes formerly illegal flamethrower weaponry.

The same size as the Razorback, and based on the same chassis, the Aurora has only the most basic of Barriers. Using a standard Mass Effect drive, the vehicle is not designed to be be empowered by a biotic crew, and reduces the crew complement to one through an extensive VI suite. Because of the extra weight (from added armor plating and a reinforced chassis) Auroras are much slower than Razorbacks.

However, this is no problem; for the Aurora is not designed to hit and run; but to incinerate and stand its ground. With two flamethrower nozzles mounted on each side of the hull, in addition to its heavy flamer turret, the Aurora is capable of creating a two hundred and seventy degree wall of fire.

Laced with magnesium and phosphorous accelerants, the Aurora's flames reach incredible temperatures, and can theoretically incinerate entire hordes of Zerg. Though the vehicle is durable, simple to build, cheap, and relatively (due to having only one pilot) expendable, the controversies surrounding the vehicle, as well as the fact that plans to retake the Athena Nebula remain far in the future, has limited production.

 **Armali Bulwark (Heavy Vehicle)**

One of the largest surviving Asari industrial cartels, the Armali Council offered to produce the heavy tank of the Republics at cost - i.e., zero net profit - if the Asari Republics would name the vehicle the _Armali Bulwark_.

Mounting its Mass Effect drive on an independently stabilized free-spinning gimbal, the Armali Bulwark can spin on the spot in the blink of an eye. Armali engineers abused this capability to remove the turret, lowering both the profile and center of gravity for their tank. Instead it is fitted with a spinal, Mass Effect enhanced 160mm plasma cannon.

Though terran plasma weaponry do not scale well into starship sized weapons, especially firing at starship ranges, they serve perfectly fine as a tank's main gun. Though shorter ranged than a Mass Effect driver of same scale, it has far more stopping power, especially against kinetic barriers, and only slightly inferior rate of fire.

Under normal operation, the tank easily can point itself backwards, forwards, or sideways relative to its axis of motion, which combined with its excellent mobility allows the Armali Bulwark to assault, harass, and kite opponents equally well.

When the Asari Ground Forces meet resistance that matches the range of its main gun, the Armali Bulwark points itself at the opponent… then cuts power to its drivetrain, landing the heavy tank. The extra power is funneled into its weapon, enhancing both range and rate of fire, though the amount of plasma dispensed per shot is still the same.

As plasma weapons have very little recoil (especially when compensated by a Mass Effect core) the spiked underside of the Armali Bulwark is usually sufficient to keep the tank emplaced.

Enhancing usage of the Armali Bulwark in a assault role, the vehicle is almost completely plated with Silaris, including twice-thick layers in its frontal aspect, and heavy kinetic barriers, stronger than those found on many corvettes.

Though the vehicle is not intended as a dedicated anti-air vehicle, Republic generals deemed complete reliance on infantry-based AA fire unacceptable. As a result, the Armali Bulwark features eight vertical mortar tubes (which consume relatively little volume), four mounted on each side of its spine.

Loaded with jet-assisted rocket shells with advanced seekers, the Asari heavy tank can delivering punishing salvos against airborne targets, although the rate of fire is rather dismal. Thanks to its sophisticated VI suite, the Armali Bulwark can easily and accurately engage air targets while moving, just like ground opponents.

 **|Other Units**

 **Pathway (-)**

Based on the Turian Liberator assault shuttle, the Pathway assault shuttle differs primarily in its reduced lift capacity - significant amounts of volume (and mass) are devoted to drop pods instead of an empty cargo hold. Should the Pathway be shot down it will immediately dispense drop pods with the onboard cargo, greatly increasing the survivability of transported Asari military members. As expected, they are ardently thankful for this change.

Otherwise, the Pathway is nearly identical to the Liberator; one rack of anti-ground cluster rockets and a nose-mounted Mass Effect/Gauss autocannon.

 **|Common Structures**

 **Rampart (-)**

Inspired by the Terran bunker, the Rampart is a fortified structure containing massive Element Zero barriers capable of shielding entire city blocks from cruiser-grade kinetic bombardment.

Constructed using Eezo scavenged from wrecked Asari warships, these Ramparts can be garrisoned by Asari infantry, much like the Terran bunker, and feature an Serrice Council-produced remotely operated turret for extra firepower.

Because of their relatively simple (and modular) design, teams of Republic combat engineers can quickly assemble a Rampart, despite lack of SCV technology.

* * *

 **A/N: Review response on Chapter 18, Umojan Planetary Forces. Megathanks to Kaoupa for his ideas. And damnit, FFnet, stop screwing with my formatting!**


	17. Chapter 17 - Expeditionary Ground Forces

**Codex: Expeditionary Ground Forces**

Although not as abundant as the Dominion Army, the ground troops of the Expeditionary Armada are both numerous and well equipped.

Vaguely familiar to their Colonial cousins, the Directorate's ground arm is armed with both recognizable and exotic technology.

 **|Combat Units**

 **UED Marine (Infantry)**

As with the other human factions, the Directorate's basic infantryman also bears power armor; the UED-standard Argent battlesuit.

Thirty-three percent smaller and less bulky than the Dominion CMC-derived armor, the Argent features face-hardened composite armor panels and is filled with biofoam; a porous inner glove that acts as a shock absorber, suit-sealant, and even auto-clots wounds for injured personnel, rendering the Argent armor just as durable as CMC suits.

The smaller size and more efficient servo layout means that a Directorate Marine is less likely to get hit, and when hit, is less likely to take critical or crippling damage. To top it off, the Argent suit nearly matches the full range of human motion and dexterity, allowing an armored marine to serve as vehicle crew without removing his gear - indeed, most UED vehicle operators wear Argent armor.

Unlike many other factions, Directorate personnel are cross-trained with multiple sets of gear while using the same armor; these specializations (and gear sets) are listed below:

 _Vermillion_

By far most common of Directorate Marine troopers, _Vermillion_ training gear (UED _combat gear_ is almost always painted white) is painted blood red, giving these specialists the nickname 'Redcoats'.

Their weapon, the _Juno_ combat rifle has a far lower rate of fire and reduced ammunition capacity compared to the Dominion C-16, and (not-so-coincidentally) uses the same 10x144mm high velocity gauss rounds. On paper, Vermillions have less firepower than Dominion Marines armed with C-16 rifles.

This ignores their more advanced VI (a spinoff from the Electronic Defense Initiative Project), sensors systems, and increased rifle build quality, which enables the Directorate infantryman to not only engage targets at longer range, but also more consistently target weak points in the opponent's armor.

 _Hemera_

Armed with a 2MW deuterium fluoride laser, the _Hemera_ -Marine can strike out with pinpoint accuracy and completely ignore kinetic barriers. Concentrated into a half-second burst, the beam can punch through infantry-scale armor - but _Hemera_ armed troops are trained to target weak points and sensitive locations such as sensors systems.

However, the deuterium fluoride laser uses volatile and toxic chemicals, which must be stored in a large backpack container. While heat is safely and quickly vented through outgassing of the reaction byproducts, the weapon must fully cycle and clear the reaction chamber before drawing a new load of chemicals, greatly limiting rate of fire. Worst of all, even nanowell storage cells contain a mere dozen charges.

The Directorate has experimented with various man-portable lasers powered by electrical storage feeding off the ubiquitous RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators) technology, used by the vast majority of power armor designs - but whether solid-state, diode, or free-electron laser, the entire setup was too low powered, too massive, and too slow-firing for military usage, and thus have been forced to accept chemical lasers.

To top it off, the sheer mass of the setup prevents the Hemera specialists from carrying secondary weapons - not good for morale.

 _Krakua_

The soldiers whom performed the vast majority of Colonial live captures, UED sonic troops are armed with coherent infrasonic disruptors; while the system is not remotely powerful enough cause physical damage, their weapons can easily affect multiple targets and will stun a wide variety of organic opponents.

As their sonic disruptors are not a universally useful weapon, yet is far larger and bulkier than the Juno battle rifle, _Krakua_ -Marines carry a Gauss pistol and anti-armor sticky grenades as backup weapons.

Though the Dominion military has since then undertaken significant electronic countermeasures to prevent EDI from hacking their hardware, Directorate sonic troops still give their infantry a distinct advantage in any confrontation, though they have to take care that they don't accidentally stun friendly forces.

 _Architect_

The rarest and most eccentric of Directorate infantry, Architect troopers are trained as combat engineers, and given two _Steadfast_ automated turrets.

With a smaller target profile (and reduced cost) than a Argent-armored marine, the turret is both hard to hit and highly expendable. Armed with a modified gauss machine gun, the _Steadfast_ turret allows the combat engineer to suppress enemy infantry while their own squad flanks the opposing force.

Supposedly due to the increased education granted to _Architect_ specialists, they are for some reason (also making Vermillion troops insanely jealous) also entrusted with G-4 Cluster Bombs, effective against practically all ground targets and can be used to clear obstructions in a pinch.

 **UED Medic (Heavy Infantry)**

Rejecting all lethal weapons, the Directorate Medical Corps relies heavily on other humans to respect the sign of the Red Cross. Despite this, however, opponents are heavily incentivized to target medics, and thus they are equipped with heavy Noblesse armor. Larger than conventional CMC suits, the Noblesse armor contains shock cushioning systems similar to those found on the larger Marauder suit, and combines it with a heavy titanium alloy shield.

Supporting _Krakua_ -specialists, Directorate Medics utilized a A-13 Grenade launcher loaded with flashbangs to blind organic opponents and even damage enemy sensor systems, enabling the sonic troops to more easily close in and stun local Colonial soldiers for conscription.

Their nano-suturing system, while painful (and potentially disfiguring) for the recipient, has proven to be a marvelously effective battlefield medical tool. Skilled medics consistently manage to bring an injured marine from 'barely conscious, about to bleed out' to 'combat capable' in under a dozen seconds, making field medics some of the most popular individuals in the Expeditionary Armada.

 **ATLAS (Light Vehicle)**

Nearly twice the width of a Colonial _Vulture_ , the ATLAS is a four wheel drive, lightly armored all-terrain vehicle, capable of traversing most terrain at speed, while its gyroscopically stabilized turret can track most targets, even while the vehicle crosses difficult terrain.

The turret basically is basically a stripped-down version of a Goliath body, while the chassis has been simplified, easing manufacture using Colonial assets.

Fitting in a set of Aluminum-Oxygen fuel cells, the ATLAS has significant power supply, allowing it to power the twin-linked green lasers (identical to Angel armament) mounted in the turret, capable of engaging lightly armored air and ground targets.

From the Directorate's point of view, the best part of the ATLAS is the fact it is controlled by EDI; the vehicle is sufficiently cheap and fast to be used as a scout - and without precious Earth-born crewmen, commanders simply shrug if one is ambushed and lost.

 **Skybreaker (Heavy Vehicle)**

A heavy (and slow) quadruple-tread missile 'tank', the _Skybreaker_ is what occurs if (bored) engineers wonder 'What would it look like if I stripped a quarter of the missile box launchers off of a Valkyrie and strapped it onto a bigass tank?'

By designating targets with a laser, the accuracy (and thus range and damage) of the simple HALO missile can be increased dramatically. Although only one missile can ride the beam at a time during normal operation, in an emergency the Skybreaker can exchange accuracy and damage per missile to immediately flush all its rockets, dishing out significant area-of-effect damage. Of course, reloading a set of missile cells is a complex and slow task, but the sheer cheapness of HALO munitions means that Skybreakers often see blind artillery usage.

While laser designation is less useful against opponents moving at spaceship combat velocities, space-optimized units in atmosphere tend to be limited to less than twice the speed of sound - otherwise their frames would melt from atmospheric friction, and thus the Skybreaker can track practically every target, both air and ground, and shoot them while moving.

However, due to limitations on turret depression and elevation, the Skybreaker cannot fire at targets within a minimum range at all - and unlike other Terran tanks, it does not have a different alternate mode suitable for medium-close range combat.

A sufficiently fast (and close) opponent is practically immune to an unsupported Skybreaker.

 **Excalibur (Heavy Vehicle)**

Based off the same chassis as the Skybreaker, the _Excalibur_ omits the missile storage for a small nuclear fission reactor and a heavy compulsator. Though the mass increased, UED engineers responded with a more powerful engine system.

Electrical power stored in the compulsator allows the heavy Directorate tank to fire its impressive main weapon; a light frigate-scale 530nm laser. Though its stopping power is somewhat less than that of a _Crucio_ Siege Tank in Siege Mode, the laser is extremely accurate and completely ignores Kinetic Barriers, and has practically zero recoil; thus obviating the need for a Siege Mode. The UED considers it a small bonus that the _Excalibur_ outranges the tank-mode _Crucio_ (and most Council armor, for that matter).

Fuelled with an 80% fissile material mixture (like the Angel) the nuclear reactor of the _Excalibur_ , can operate for well over a decade before needing refueling. Since the Excalibur's laser only consumes electrical power, as does its drivetrain, the Excalibur is one of the least logistically demanding vehicles in the entire Expeditionary force!

These advantages come at a cost, though. The bulk of the fission reactor, compulsator assembly and laser armament - forced cuts in the reactor's radiation shielding and omission of a gyrostabilized turret assembly. While Argent armor possesses some degree of rad-protection, it cannot guarantee protection when operating near the reactor for days, and thus outside of combat scenarios, the Excaliburs are piloted by EDI. Without main gun stabilization, the Excalibur must stop moving before firing, if it hopes to hit anything!

Many Directorate commanders deride the _Excalibur_ as 'the only human tank that can't move and shoot at the same time' and criticize its lack of anti-air ability, preferring Skybreakers over Excaliburs. However, in simulations, the few UED commanders who utilize the laser tank rather than ignore it have a significantly increased win ratio.

 **|Other Units**

 **Kodiak (-)**

The _Kodiak_ is significantly smaller than the traditional Dominion transports to more easily fit inside the Directorate's smaller _Columbus_ battlecruisers. Its cargo space is further reduced by the inclusion of a cloaking device. Like all other elements of the Expeditionary Ground Forces, the Kodiak is designed to be reproducible on Colonial manufacturing, but this has forced designers to either reduce the lift capacity or decrease mobility.

UED engineers decided that the Expedition could use a fast and stealthy special operations transport more than a vehicle-lifter; especially as Directorate doctrine discourages using heavy vehicles prior to establishing orbital supremacy, at which point the Expeditionary Armada can employ heavy cargo lifters rather than rely on combat transports.

Capable of deploying four power armored infantrymen or eight unarmored personnel, the stealthy Kodiak has proven its value over and over.

 **Jericho (-)**

A multi-part siege weapon requiring significant setup, the Jericho system consists of numerous vehicles; containing fusion plant sections, Marx generators, free-electron lasing elements, and a beam focusing array.

When fully assembled, the Jericho system becomes a graser (gamma-ray laser) with pulsed output over 20 gigawatts. Such instantaneous energy transfer _explodes_ rather than melting or cutting the target material, yet avoids the collateral damage often associated with Yamato bursts.

Though the system is designed to survive orbital drops, the fact it cannot be reproduced with Colonial tooling (or at least, Dominion tooling) means that Directorate commanders handle _Jericho_ components as if they were made of fine porcelain.

Combined with the fact the weapon must be assembled pointing towards a target (and that switching targets would require disassembling, repointing, and reassembling the system) means that the _Jericho_ siege laser has only been used twice in the entire Expeditionary campaign.

* * *

 **A/N: Review Response for C15 is next chapter, C17.**

 **So... opinions. Does what does everyone think EDI is? Crazy Yandere or the ultimate Human Loyalist? Rather curious here.**


	18. Chapter 18 - Umojan Planetary Forces

**Codex: Umojan Planetary Forces**

Given the lack of a need to conquer worlds (and enforce governance against resisting populations) the Umojan ground military is even sparser than its navy.

However, its small size has allowed them a degree of sophistication and complexity unrivaled among human powers.

 **|Combat Units**

 **Shadowguard (Infantry)**

Having far less restrictions on their psi-sensitive populace the Umojan psionic population is much larger, resulting in a more powerful Shadowguard corps compared to the Confederate/Dominion Ghost corps.

As a result, they can use more techniques, with greater finesse. Telekinetics, while still rare, actually exist in significant numbers in the Shadowguard, and virtually all Shadowguard operatives are extremely skilled telepaths, enhancing detection abilities.

Taking a page from the Salarian Special Tasks Groups, Shadowguards are trained in various forms of electronic warfare, from simple hacking of sensor feeds (to figure out exactly what the enemy is seeing, or alternatively blind the opponent) to completely disabling the fire-control computers of hostile units.

Even their rifles have been extensively upgraded; utilizing a hybrid Mass-Effect/Gauss design, Shadowguard weaponry is not only longer ranged and more destructive, but also has a reduced sound signature. While their armored skinsuits are not much tougher than those equipping Dominion Ghosts, they are equipped with some of the best infantry Kinetic Barriers in existence and a more efficient cloaking device.

 **Protectorate Biotic Commandos (Infantry/Heavy Infantry)**

Tens of thousands of the million-plus (and rapidly growing) Asari citizens of the Protectorates have volunteered for military service; most of them serve as Commandos.

Initially stymied by the lack of Master-Instructors in Protectorate space, a minor scandal formed when the Grand Master of the Virtuoso School left Ilium, criticizing legalization of the Nightwind School, the 'Turian-like militarization' that the Republic was undergoing, and emigrated to Umoja. A handful of Huntress and Stalwart masters followed, allowing the Protectorates to train a significant Biotic Commando force.

Unlike their Republic cousins, Protectorate _Huntresses_ utilize cloaking-capable armored skinsuits and a sniper rifle (both adapted from **Shadowguard** gear) while _Virtuosos_ use modified CMC-Zero (see **Umojan Marine** below) power armor, anti-vehicle grenades, and a Gauss SMG. _Stalwart_ graduates tend to be used in a unique (see **Protector** ) role.

For more information, see **Codex: Asari Ground Forces**.

 **Umojan Marine (Heavy Infantry)**

The basic Umojan infantryman (or woman) is equipped with a CMC-Zero suit, which abuses the inertia-reduction abilities of a small Eezo core to enable a battlesuit half again as large as the standard Dominion armor - and yet remain twice as mobile.

Forged from a single piece of Neosteel and plated with Vanadium alloy, the increased size and structural toughness of the armor (not to mention Element Zero based shock absorption system) allows the operator to endure direct hits from a Dominion _Crucio_ or Hierarchy _Spearhead_ \- and this is before considering its excellent Kinetic Barriers.

Similarly, their _Punisher_ chainguns (hybridizing Mass Effect and Gauss technology) have an order of magnitude more destructive capacity than the Great War _Impaler_ ; which combined with advanced Toha VI aide installed in the suit, allows the Umojan Marine to dish out damage faster and more accurately than ever before.

Of course, this lavish investment of Element Zero has raised many concerns - Jacob Kang, an Assemblyman and member of the Umojan Ruling Council objected to this spending, noting that 'With all the Eezo we've put in marine armor, we could assemble a squadron of Eezo-enhanced _Horatio_ battlecruisers!'

The Umojan Head-of-State, Minister Jorgenson asked whether Jacob could look these brave men and women in the eyes, and then ask them to give up their advanced protection systems - Element Zero barriers were far more scalable than Matrix field generators; the smallest of which would have to be installed in a vehicle.

 **Protector (Heavy Infantry)**

The most common biotic commando school in existence, Umojan _Stalwart_ commandos are equipped with modified CMC-Zero (see **Umojan Marine** above) power armor. However their Protector suit omits the heavy chaingun and massive backpack ammunition container for a powerful, vehicle-scale Kinetic Barrier generator.

Though the Asari Republics cut its technological exchange program after Umoja withdrew from the Ascendant training program, Umojan Shadowguards easily 'acquired' the Serrice Council Amplified Eezo Core system. When a Stalwart Commando interfaces with the system, she can modulate her Kinetic Barriers to protect nearby allies, in exchange for minor reductions in Barrier strength.

Some Stalwart Masters have reported success in directly connecting their Biotic Amp to the Amplified Eezo Core; allowing them to directly produce a **Massive Biotic Barrier**. As expected, this technique is exhausting.

The sheer mass of the setup limits the Stalwart Protector to carrying only a heavy Gauss pistol and a Vanadium alloy combat shield.

 **Diamond (Heavy Vehicle)**

Like the Republic's _Razorback_ , the Protectorate's _Diamond_ is a direct descendant of the Confederate _Project Diamondback_. Unlike the Asari Republics, the Umojan Protectorate has opted to scale up its vehicle; the resulting _Diamond_ is twice as large as the _Razorback_ , outmassing even the _Crucio_ siege tank.

Without a thoroughly (or even majority) biotic populace, the Protectorates could not possibly crew all of its heavy vehicles with biotics. As such, the Diamond uses a conventional Mass Effect auxilliary drive rather than the Serrice Council Amplified Core.

Trading speed for firepower, the _Diamond_ features quadruple Element-zero enhanced heavy railguns but is still faster than the stock _Diamondback_. When facing heavy fortifications or large groups of opponents, however, the Umojan heavy tank cuts power to its drivetrain (also 'landing' the hovertank) and engages pitons and braces; virtually identical to those found on other Terran Siege Tanks.

Said extra power is then fed into a siege gun - the quadruple railguns transform and link up into a higher caliber, 20m long hypervelocity weapons system, with greatly extended range and destructive power. Nanotech manufacturing systems similar to those found in the ITSA _Raven_ and the Umojan _Expurgo_ can remanufacture standard railgun rounds into siege munitions; consisting of a armor piercing, hardened tip, followed by a pre-fragmented main body.

The sheer power of this weapon allows it to strike targets in low orbit with forces approaching a light frigate's main gun; and as one could assume, not even Umojan power armor can survive a direct hit from a _Diamond_ in siege mode.

However, the tank has quite a few flaws. High explosive shells cannot be practically fired from a railgun, and thus the rounds are solid. The hypervelocity fragments will tear through opponents in a area with ease, but the destructive radius is much less than conventional siege tank munitions. Even with Eezo-assisted gyroscopic stabilization and suspension, the massive extended turret takes twice the time to turn compared to a Crucio turret. Like the Dominion tank, the Diamond cannot sufficiently depress its turret while in siege mode to hit extremely close targets.

Although the kinetic barriers are even more powerful than those found on the _Razorback_ or _Armali Bulwark_ , there is no way to biotically reinforce those barriers the way a Razorback crew can. Though its chassis is reinforced with Neosteel and features Vanadium alloy armor, the high cost of the vehicle - more than triple the that of the Asari tank - means Umojan commanders simply do not take risks with Diamonds.

 **|Other Units**

 **Berserker (-)**

The Umojan variant of the _Hercules_ Dropship, the _Berserker_ is a grossly oversized transport larger than most frigates, and is equipped with a Warp Drive, Eezo Core, and significant amounts of protection. Though its potential cargo volume could squeeze in nearly one hundred human-sized occupants, the ship utilizes a drop pod system, much like that found on the Asari _Pathway_ , cutting capacity to about thirty men (or sixy unarmored) in power armor; but greatly increasing survival rates.

This is only enhanced by the Berserker's Neosteel-reinforced chassis and Vanadium plating, not to mention its kinetic barriers. In an emergency (such as, escaping the gravity well of a planet to get to Warp) the transport can vent reactor plasma to tremendously increase acceleration.

There was much debate about including the _Berserker_ in the **Umojan Star Navy Table of Equipment & Organization**, but as the ship is not only designed to land on planets and support a ground force - and possesses practically zero STS warfare capabilities, it is included here instead.

With the ability to perform tactical jumps, Umojan ground forces can cross huge distances, and permit Protectorate soldiers to extract from otherwise unsurvivable situations.

* * *

 **A/N: Many thanks to Kaoupa, whose ideas for ground units I stole - er, borrowed. Without them I could not write three large codexes in three days. Also, fuck FFnet for screwing with my formatting three times in twenty minutes.**

 **Finwee:**

 **Crusader has a more solid frame than basically anything its size or smaller. The thing is, it's so slow it takes more hits than other fighters would. In terms of raw chassis durability, next strongest is the Umojan Vindicator, the Turian Blackhawk, then the Turian Skyguard, then the Asari Monoskopos & Salarian Kerahime follow, Wraith, Impetus, Angel, with the Batarian Raider the weakest.**

 **Of course, with Silaris, strongest barriers, and fastest speed, the Monoskopos survives the most simulations. This can change in other situations; without detectors Salarian ECM and Terran cloaking can turn the tide. And Turians have a nasty surprise for those who underestimate them.**

 **Khaaanzac:**

 **Thanks again.**

 **Dark Two:**

 **AVTM canceled the KMC Codexes. Well, they're in flames, so it's kind of pointless. Batarian Fleet ToE was written over a week ago, just holding it for now. Like the Turian Fleet and [CENSORED]**

 **HOmega:**

 **The unmanned Angel is significantly smaller than Terran Heavy fighters, smaller than even Council Fighters. Additionally, it is built with a trapezoidal/diamond shaped cross section, allowing them to be stacked together very efficiently.**

 **Yay, cargo optimization!**

 **Saris:**

 **Silaris is made from crushing purified carbon with ME/Biotic fields, then adding layers of nanotube. Then crushing more carbon and adding that on top of the next layer. If you read the chapter, the Asari switched from the Shipwright Guild system to more terranized mass production.**

 **Turians believe that if an opponent can overcome the homeworld garrison fleets and the fortress planet of Palaven, they've probably already lost the war. The do have other Cruiser and Frigate construction sites, but they know that properly employed and supported supercapitals can turn the tide of a war.**

 **Bookreader:**

 **Wat.**

 **Monosodium Glutamate V1000:**

 **Thanks. I dumbed down my recent chapters, not only because the difficulty some readers had understanding it, but also because of volume of production; if I went over each item in these tables of equipment with technical detail like earlier chapters this would have to be a full time-affair.**

 **And I appreciate the support.**

* * *

 **For everyone else, feel free to recommend a fanfiction. Although I prefer Sci-fi, other things are acceptable; just make sure it's higher quality than 90% of the trash floating around.**


	19. Chapter 19 - Batarian Fleet TOE

**Codex Entry: Batarian Hegemony Fleet, Table of Equipment & Organization**

Long derided as crude and simplistic, Batarian ships have been forced by necessity towards a certain utilitarian style, which some military observers (grudgingly) admit have their own aesthetic.

Recently upgraded with KMC technology, the Batarian Fleet's lethality has more than doubled since the Great War.

Despite its flaws, the Batarian fleet, aided by the Combine/Hegemony Waygate Network has a reach and mobility that is unrivaled by any save the Protoss … while on the Waygate system.

Of course, opponents of the Hegemony and the Combine (and they are quite numerous) seek to debilitate the Kel-Morian/Batarian axis and their infernal Waygate network.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Raider (Fighter)**

 _Approx 29m long, 20m wide_

The _Raider_ attack fighter is much like larger Batarian craft. Simple, overgunned, and low cost. Initially designed with one ventral torpedo rack and one mass-accelerator, battles against Turian patrols caused Hegemony commanders to jury-rig a second torpedo rack on the Raider's dorsal aspect.

Though the frame was not designed to handle this additional mass under acceleration and would deform in less than ten deployments, this was not a serious concern for the Batarians; the less heavily armed 'stock' _Raider_ had an average life expectancy of less than three encounters with a turian patrol.

Post-Great War, however, they were some of the first units upgraded by the KMC-Batarian alliance. Ares Corporation offered its MT50 Lanzer torpedoes; which, despite being named torpedoes, had sufficient seeker sensitivity and drive power to track and engage fighter-scale opponents, allowing the Hegemony to remove all other weapons (which used Element Zero) systems, dramatically reducing the cost of each unit and enabling the Batarians to build new Raiders cheaper and faster than before.

Although the Lanzer was less effective than Eezo-based torpedoes against Kinetic Barriers, it required none of the precious, rare Element Zero for its construction, which became horrendously expensive in the wake of the Salarian/Turian arms race.

The Lanzer's shaped-charge warhead, while suboptimal against fighters, allowed them to punch through armor far better than previous missile designs.

The modern Hegemony _Raider_ still has crude kinetic barriers and its overburdened chassis is sluggish compared to other Eezo-based strike craft, but its multiple racks of Lanzer torpedoes have been the demise of many an a foolish opponent.

 **Punisher (Light Frigate)**

 _Approx 108m long, 40m wide_

One of the least successful designs, the _Punisher_ was intended to carry a multitude of accelerators to overwhelm enemy barriers; however, the light frigate scale accelerators were simply insufficiently powerful to perform their intended role.

Now, however, with KMC input, the _Punisher_ has removed most of its accelerators and instead performs as a mine laying ship. In space warfare, using mines is ineffective in most scenarios; opponents can easily detect the devices, and simply evade or shoot them down.

In the Council-space paradigm, Relays are still critically important chokepoints, even after the advent of Warp Drives. Large volumes of space, normally taking months or even years for Warp Drive to transit, can be crossed in a matter of days with a Mass Relay. Booby trapping the area around a Mass Relay is an difficult, but possible task using conventional mines - however, the _Punisher_ does not use conventional mines.

Enlightened Dynamics developed a new area denial weapon using technology stolen (some detractors claim that unscrupulous ITSA individuals sold the tech for a quick profit) from the joint ITSA/Umojan _Project Raven._ The Seeker Mine has reliable IFF systems, a short-burn internal drive, and Protoss-derived metamaterial layers in its hull, also taken from _Project Raven_. Unlike the Raven's Seeker Missile, the mine is armed with a 200kt warhead.

While Terran versions of metamaterial cannot truly conceal an object in open space, it is sufficient to hide the mine in a debris field or asteroid belt; such placement of Seeker Minefields proved crucial for stalling the Dominion advance at Turaxis II and Artesia Prime.

The _Punisher_ , with its small hull form, can safely navigate all but the densest concentrations of space detritus, making them near-ideal minelayers, and have been employed as such by the Hegemony Fleet.

To increase survivability of the light frigate, many Punishers have been upgraded with an optional cloaking device. Though some Hegemony commanders complain about the reduced space (not to mention the increased unit cost) for mines and munitions, most _Punisher_ captains are feverently thankful for this incredibly useful system.

 **Ransacker (Heavy Frigate)**

 _Approx 180m long, 66m wide_

Overall the least altered design in Batarian service, the _Ransacker_ occasionally overwhelmed smaller Turian frigates simply by being bigger and mounting more guns.

Though the troops it carries are now armored in CMC-derived power armor, its electronics replaced with (civilian) Salarian systems, its ammunition storage facilities replaced with (civilian) Turian exports, and a pair of Kel-Morian manufactured Gauss autocannon turrets have been added (for additional anti-fighter capability), the _Ransacker_ is still practically the same as the pre-Great War design.

 **Taskmaster (Light Cruiser)**

 _Approx 350m long, 110m wide_

Originally intended to destroy Turian wolfpacks with its multiple banks of broadside accelerators, the _Taskmaster_ proved insufficient with the advent of the Turian _Predator_ heavy frigate; these light cruisers would be crippled or destroyed by the sheer quantities of antiship torpedoes fired from a Turian Heavy Frigate squadron before its own broadside accelerators had dealt meaningful damage.

Slated for the scrapyard, the _Taskmaster_ had a reprieve when the Batarian Hegemony needed every hull to fight the Zerg at Thessia. Then, the light cruiser had its fortunes turn around during initial KMC/Batarian contact; Bellerophon Corporation's Kel-Morian subsidiary realized that the Batarian light cruiser's broadside mounts were a near-perfect fit for their Phobos weapons systems.

Built en masse for the Dominion _Crusader_ , Bellerophon's Phobos contract was canceled by Arcturus Mengsk when competitors disparaged the fact it held branch offices in Moria and questioned the questioned company's loyalty to the Dominion; a financial disaster for Bellerophon as they were now sitting on large stockpiles of missile systems without a purchaser.

On the brink of bankruptcy, the Hegemony tested out refitted Taskmasters - whose new medium-range missile armament was accurate, sufficiently destructive, and cheap, allowing them to blow apart overeager wolfpacks; and the multiple banks of autocannon great deterrence against enemy fighters.

Bellerophon Corporation now no longer maintains a Dominion office, and is now a mostly Batarian enterprise, bidding on a contract to update the Raider fighters. Like virtually all Cruiser scale (or larger) combatants, they have been refitted with a Warp core.

Taskmasters can carry one squad of _Raider_ fighters.

 **Overseer (Heavy Cruiser)**

 _Approx 550m long, 215m wide_

The first non-Terran unit to be armed with a Yamato wave-motion device, the twenty squadrons of Overseers form the core of the Hegemony's firepower. Initially designed as a heavy combatant capable of dissuading the omnipresent Turian Enforcers from getting too close, the Overseer mounted a high caliber spinal accelerator and full broadsides of weaponry, reducing sensors, life support, supplies, and other systems to increase firepower.

As previously discussed, these Overseers proved structurally flawed and were mothballed a mere decade into service; but the ongoing Dominion invasion of Kel-Morian space forced the Batarian-KMC axis to scrounge for any hulls that could fit a Yamato Generator.

Despite being limited to 80% of a Mark II Yamato cannon's output, and poorly armed (with conventional) weaponry, the refitted Overseers (along with a cloaked Cerebus battlecruiser) were crucial to an operation destroying one of General Warfield's _Daedalus_ superdreadnoughts.

These modified Overseers (constituting practically the entire Overseer fleet) do not have any strike-craft bays for _Raiders_ , due to the extreme cramping caused not only by the Yamato cannon but also the Warp core installation.

See **Codex: Industry, Logistics & Technology - Council** for more.

 **Hegemon (Heavy Cruiser/Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 850m long, 185m wide_

The first Batarian supercapital warship, the Hegemony assumed that it was impossible to place an Eezo core at the center of your ship while having a nearly full-length accelerator; and thus the _Hegemon_ only mounts a 600m weapon, greatly reducing its potential firepower relative to other dreadnoughts with full-scale spinal weaponry.

For decades after its commissioning, the Batarians assumed that other dreadnoughts were similar and believed their ship to be superior.

After the encountering the Kel-Morian Combine, however, the Hegemon's lower power main weapon was a perfect fit for KMC manufactured cloaking devices. One of the first units refitted with a Warp Core, the _Hegemon_ and three _Batar_ -class Dreadnoughts have been deployed to Moria.

The Hegemon carries three squadrons of _Raider_ fighters.

 **Batar (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 850m long, 215m wide_

In the aftermath of the _Hegemon_ -class 600m gun dreadnought fiasco (where the ship designers and their families were enslaved as a punishment) the Batar class was constructed. Armed with a duplicate of the (then) Council-standard 800m accelerator, the _Batar_ was intended to match the various Council dreadnoughts in open battle, although its cruder kinetic barriers and electronics would have put it at a significant disadvantage.

In the aftermath of the Great War (and the ensuing cooperation the the Kel-Morian Combine) these Dreadnoughts were refitted with battlecruiser-scale Yamato cannons; greatly increasing their medium-long range burst capability, but still primarily employ their standard spinal accelerators in extreme long-range combat as they are an overly important and fragile asset.

Each _Batar_ bears four squadrons of Raiders.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Despoiler (-)**

 _Approx 450m long, 115m wide_

While the _Ransacker_ was capable of taking nearly one hundred slaves per run, it would have to offload much of its supply stores to do so, and would risk many slaves dying from lack of rations.

Although the Batarians are not exactly overflowing paragons of morality, dead slaves yield little profits and thus the Hegemony 'independent pirates' realized they needed a better solution. Initially, they attempted to transfer the 'cargo' from frigates to a freighter while in orbit, but such delicate maneuvers proved difficult while there were pursuing naval units intent on preventing the 'independent slavers' from getting away.

Then, the Hegemony came up with the _Despoiler-_ class utility vessel. More heavily framed than a merchant vessel and with a larger Eezo core than most cruisers of equivalent size, but completely stripped of weaponry, the Despoilers were fast ships capable of landing on most planets. With expanded cargo holds, they could carry larger volumes of supplies and support a Batarian raiding group over a larger radius.

'Independent slavers' now had a new doctrine. On that approach to a target, they would consume supplies from their utility vessel first. Once they had beaten down their opponents they would land troops using Ransackers; and after ground resistance was suppressed, the Despoiler (now with near-empty cargo holds) would come for the 'goods', able to carry nearly an order of magnitude more slaves than a combat frigate.

The _Despoiler_ was so successful in 'pirate' actions that the Batarian fleet has conscripted a few of these to act as fleet supply vessels; the _Punisher_ , for example, can only carry so many mines, the _Overseer_ has an extremely deficient internal supply storage, the _Taskmaster_ can burn through missile stockpiles rapidly, etc et al.

Seeing as they are giving these ships free Warp Cores and refits, most _Despoiler_ captains do not complain.

* * *

 **A/N: This Codex has been released early to commemorate Chapter 30 (and the halfway mark) of Sudden Supremacy. Also, I hit 100 reviews, yay... Thanks, ten dudes! Your dedication is highly appreciated.**

 **Kaoupa:**

 **Yeah, its hard to connect with faceless goons.**

 **Saris:**

 **It was unnamed in Kaoupa/AVTM's source docs, so I deliberately chose a forboding name.**

 **Hemera can, _given enough time_ , punch through vehicle armor. Each hit is more powerful than gauss weapons, but their slow ROF means they're actually inferior to C16 as anti-tank, nevermind stuff like Eezo-Gauss Chainguns. They do have good range, high burst, and high accuracy, and are trained to hit tanks in things like sensor stalks, or anti-infantry snipers, but most Directorate commanders hate using them except as Shock Tactics.**

 **Umojan ground military, actually tries its hardest to be like the Protoss. Their idea is survivability and supremacy; they want to be able to engage and take minimal casualties while inflicting huge losses on the opponent. With the smallest army-to-population ratio of any of the big factions; like, less than one million soldiers out of ten billion and change citizens, they know they just don't have the ability to win a big ground war without allies, so they do their best to act as the decisive force, the hammer to a potential ally's anvil.**

 **Umojan space military existed to preserve Umojan independence. They don't have the resources to make a ton of units from thirteen planets (according to canon) so each unit has to be as good as possible. However, as a relatively pacifistic democratic society, once in awhile the Umojan electorate drops the ball pretty hard and now most of their fleet is obsolete. They're trying to fix that now, but for capital ships (and supercapitals) the only ships coming out of the yards within the next month or three were the ones that were already laid down but had their construction paused.**

 **pt1oef:**

 **I told you like ten times already. This isn't -my- setting, if it belongs to anyone it's Megalomania-chan.**

 **Please, ask AVTM for permission. If he gives it - then you can steal/copy whatever you like from here - of course, you have to credit us.**

 **finwee:**

 **LOL. Their recent storylines have been so trash an angsty twilight writer could have done something better.**

 **Probably.**

 **Smurfer:**

 **Yeah, I was about to reply that "I liked Psi Effect too bad its a dead fic" then I checked and it updated a few days ago... and fanfictionnet didn't alert me. FFS.**

 **DarkOne:**

 **Absolutely, the Asari and Protectorate basically fell in love with each other at first sight, and the Asari citizens of the republic are a disproportionately influential part of the government; less than 1/10,000 citizens are Asari while they form almost 1% of the ground army and an amazing 4% of the Assembly.**

 **There has been quite a bit of pushback, which was treated like Donald Trump Raccisssss Bleating would have been (say, in 2012) until the Umojans realized how shittily the Asari treated their Ardat Yakashi. The sudden withdrawal of Shadowguards (and Kerrigan) from the Ascendant training program was a bucket of cold water for the Asari Republics.**

 **The unilateral cutting of the tech-exchange program (which mostly involved the Protectorates giving their new Best Friends upgraded and Asari-adapted human tech) and refusal to share the Serrice Council Amplified Eezo core design was a slap in the face to the Protectorate... Who struck back by simply stealing the design with Shadowguards, lul.**

 **And then there is the not-so-minor incident of the Grand Master of the oldest (and most prestigious) Commando school leaving for Umoja. Relations have... well, they still think highly of each other, just less dewey eyed than before. Okay, -alot- less dewey eyed, but they still think highly of each other. Kind of.**

 **Still, now even the Xenophile Umojan Ruling Council members seek -something- to balance the growing Blue Spacebabe influence on their society; they think Quarians might be the answer. Humans and Quarians are the only races to have lots of head hair, for example, and the synergy between the engineering focused Quarians and the physics oriented Umojans should be pretty high.**

 **However, the two biggest names in Umojan politics; the Pasteur and Toha families, are cautious. The Protectorates have a high opinion of the Geth, and liberally use VI-piloted craft in their fleet, whose personality matrixes can pass low-level Turing examinations. Umojan social mores are based around a degree of individualism (not as high as, say, ITSA, but still there) while the Quarians are so collectivistic they forgot what it's like to be individualistic. Plus, even if they find a few Dextro worlds in Koprulu for the Quarians, these Councilors have doubts the Quarians would be willing to join the Protectorates.**

 **They'd still be overjoyed to have them as allies, of course.**

 **DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE IS MOSTLY MY OWN ANALYSIS**

 **...**

 **Holy shit. I wrote more for you than Saris.**

 **Last-Heaven:**

 **Yeah... Asari Marines are kind of like Space Marines. Just a little. They're not as nearly durable vs their opponents, though, nor do they have SPESS MAHRINE levels of relative firepower?**

 **Personal Cloaking in SC1/BW worked only for psionics, but Asari have above average psi affinity (even if they don't have Kerrigans and Novas and Overminds walking around, although Tevos's new Protoss!Asari baby might be different) first of all, and secondly, one of the big KMC corps developed a personal cloaking device that doesn't need a psionic to work. It's hugely less efficient, has lower endurance and is more likely to get detected... Which is why, after Umojan Shadowguards stole'd it, they handed it off to their own researchers, to improve the design a bit.**

 **You know, Shadowguard have been copying the Salarian Special Task Group quite a bit recently, lel.**

 **While much less effective than Ghost Cloaking (nevermind Shadowguard or Phantom cloaking) the Protectorate's Asari troops are extremely grateful for -any- cloaking.**

 ***scratches head* Er, maybe the Asari on Korhal were from the Republics? Or something? Mess-ups happen. And Huntresses would wear Shadowguard-like armor!**


	20. Chapter 20 - Project Thanix

**Codex Entry: Project Thanix - and the Volus Loyalist Movement**

The proud, militaristic Turians, desperate for some tool which they could fight the imperious Protoss on even grounds, were simultaneously horrified and elated by Sovereign at the _Battle of the Citadel_. Saddened by the immense casualties Council forces suffered and the threat so close to the core of their power, yet delighted that it was possible for Mass Effect technology - Element Zero based systems - to humble the seemingly invincible Protoss.

Though the output of accelerated ferrofluid weapons did not match that of a Yamato cannon, the Turians noted that the smaller Thanix 'legs' of Sovereign were frigate sized, popping the pestiferous, plasma shielded, absurdly agile Protoss fighters with contemptuous ease. And the dreadnought scale main gun crushed Carrier shields in seconds, quickly cleaving through their golden ships immediately after.

Desiring this vaguely familiar Mass Effect-driven ferrofluid technology even more than the peculiar shaped-fusion lance Yamato system, Turian researchers were initially stymied by the relative paucity of debris from the _Battle of the Citadel_ \- the damned Protoss had blocked them _again_ , erasing many pieces they needed to understand this technology!

Thus, with great reluctance, Turian agents were sent to bid in Cerberus's Mark 1 Yamato Cannon Blueprint Auction. Firstly, they were backstabbed yet again by the amoral Terrans, who double crossed both the Hierarchy and the Union, selling the design to both nations. Then, despite every precaution they took, two cruisers being used as testbeds exploded, with all hands lost!

Turian scientists, however, were all soldiers before at one point of their lives - they do not give up easily. Using insight gained from replicating Terran MHD jars, they deduced that like the Yamato cannon which used cyclonic electromagnetic fields to crush reactor plasma, the Reaper utilized cyclonic mass effect fields to liquify ferroalloy - primarily iron, with some tungsten and uranium for increased density. Immediately before full liquefaction the mixture would be magnetically injected into an rotating Mass Effect-acceleration array.

The leading edge of the molten-hot jet would sometimes solidify in the coldness of space, further enhancing armor piercing capabilities.

Resuming testing, however, they suffered further disasters. One of their most decorated researchers - who are relatively rare amongst the Turian populace - was standing next to a Thanix ferrofluid reservoir when it suffered catastrophic containment failure. Literally half his body burned off, his screams forever haunt his colleagues, some of whom committed suicide afterwards, believing they had committed an oversight.

Later investigations revealed signs of tampering with the machinery, with diagnostic systems, safety sensors and override switches - hints of Salarian DNA, but nothing that could be proven in a court of law. At this point, the Hierarchy was demoralized - fearing that their research would be stymied at every turn by the perfidious Salarians and their STG infiltrators, and then when they had paid the price - in not only resources but Turian bodies - the Salarian Union would magically have Thanix as well.

At the brink of despair, members of the Elkoss Combine stepped up. Long staunch - some even say fanatical - Turian loyalists, they had been searching for a way to prove their devotion, the sincerity which they treated their oaths of loyalty - and a way to redeem the Volus in the eyes of the Hierarchy.

Realizing that they were uniquely suited to staying away from Salarian observation, Elkoss engineers proposed a plan to the Turians - exploiting Volus physiology, they would construct research stations anchored in the upper reaches of a gas giant's atmosphere. At five atmospheres of pressure, Salarian internal organs would fail after extended exposure; at eight, even the adaptive Asari and Human bodies would suffer from hypoxia - but Volus, already accustomed to near-permanent habitation in pressure suits, would be just fine.

Best yet, these research stations could easily be disguised as yet more Elkoss Combine He3 mining facilities, and due to their location would be almost perfectly concealed from scanning. Taking the cake, the energy signatures of small-scale Thanix testing could be explained away as using experimental Mass Effect gas extraction machinery.

The paranoid Hierarchy, distrustful of the Volus due to the Ultranationalist movement, insisted on using remotes teleoperated by Turian scientists to ensure no treachery occurred - upon which, Elkoss Combine volunteered to pay for them. Over years of intense testing, the Volus engineers and the Turian scientists had developed a strong sense of camaraderie, culminating with a working Thanix weapon.

Unlike a spinal accelerator firing solid slugs, the acceleration elements did not have to be in a straight line - although losses would occur with each turn in the array, as long as you continued adding acceleration elements the resulting Thanix jet would become more and more destructive.

Suddenly, the limit for the power of Eezo-based weaponry was no longer hull length, but energy generation capability - just like on Yamato-armed Terran units.

While shorter ranged, less destructive, and less efficient than the Terran fusion lance, the scalability meant even a frigate could mount practical ferrofluid weapons, capable of inflicting severe damage on cruisers or dreadnoughts - no longer would their Dreadnought fire bounce off Protoss shields, even light units would pose a valid threat to the so-called Firstborn.

Though far more scalable than the Yamato, the smallest practical ferrofluid weapon still required dramatically increased power to operate compared to a standard mass accelerator or laser weapon. While Thanix stopping power exceeds the finest Salarian UV laser, its accuracy is less than even Batarian GARDIAN systems.

Other tradeoffs must be considered - the Thanix system was inherently less accurate at extreme ranges and shorter ranged than conventional, solid slug firing accelerators of equivalent power.

Still, the Turians did not hesitate, immediately both implementing Thanix-centric designs and upgrading older ships with the ferrofluid weapon where it made sense.

 **|Thanix Mounts**

Currently, due to (some say extreme) experience with handling Eezo-based technologies, Hierarchy engineers quickly devised a multitude of Thanix output calibers that meet the Turian standards of practicality; while higher-caliber Thanix weaponry have superior range and destructive ability compared to low caliber variants, they are not only more massive but energy-hungry than smaller designs.

Furthermore, turrets bearing heavier and larger weapons have difficulty tracking lighter, more evasive craft.

Except on the largest ships, Thanix-armed vessels have one ferrofluid reservoir, scaling with size, but has minimum constraints making it difficult to mount in a sub-frigate hull.

 **-Miniature Thanix** \- The smallest practical caliber of ferrofluid weaponry, mini-Thanix still requires a ferrofluid reservoir. These are almost always turreted.

Highly effective against fighters, moderately vs frigates.

 **-Small Thanix** \- Due to the small turret mount size, can easily be refitted to even frigate scale vessels with this weapon; almost never used in a spinal mount.

Highly effective against frigates, moderately against fighters and cruisers.

 **-Medium Thanix** \- The most widely deployed pattern of Thanix, they can be fitted to frigate-scale vessels only as a spinal mount, though larger ships can turret these weapons.

Extremely effective against cruisers, moderately effective against DNs and frigates.

 **-Large Thanix** \- Quite rare due to the sheer destructive power (for once, weapons engineers have said "enough") of Medium-scale ferrofluid weaponry. High-caliber Thanix mounts is slightly more massive than a cruiser's spinal mass accelerator weapon, although there have been ridiculous rumors of Volus superdreadnoughts carrying these in turrets.

Extremely effective against both supercapitals and capital ships, much less so against frigates.

 **-XL Thanix** \- Ridiculous rumors of dreadnought (or superdreadnought) scale spinal ferrofluid weaponry are unconfirmed, but would be able to crush a Protoss Carrier in seconds ala Sovereign.

* * *

 **A/N: No review Response this chapter; see next chapter.**

 **Mildly disappoint how few people bothered to ask questions; oh well.**

 **Stuck on Quarian Fleet Codex; 0 Chapters in reserve. Might bypass and write up Turian Ground Forces first.**


	21. Chapter 21 - Turian Fleet TOE

**Codex Entry: Turian Hierarchy Fleet, Table of Organization & Equipment**

The largest of the Citadel fleets, the Turian Hierarchy has traditionally a wide range of tasks across an immense reach of space, and thus designed their ships to be useful in multiple situations; a large contrast with the specialist-focused Salarian Navy.

Unlike Asari ships, which have 2, three, or four stabilizers (depending on size) perpendicular to the centers of their hulls, and Salarian vessels, which have no protrusions, Turian ships have four little winglets; forming a sort of X shape from a frontal or rear viewpoint.

 **|Combat Spacecraft**

 **Skyguard (Fighter)**

 _Approx 29m long, 18m wide_

Outside of its exterior hull form, the _Skyguard_ is very similar to the other Council fighters - Eezo drive, roughly similar size, fighter-scale kinetic barriers. This fighter features an inline mass accelerator cannon and multiple missile racks, relying on numbers and teamwork to overwhelm enemy fighters and support larger ships in battle.

Unlike the Salarians and Asari, however, the Turians have always had a surfeit of fighter pilot volunteers - leading to individuals making ... politically incorrect statements about Turians and their avian ancestry.

Post Koprulu, Turian generals fascinated by Terran tactics where massed light units could bring down capital ships by themselves, developed specialist (like the Blackhawk) units to support their Skyguards, greatly increasing the size of their strike craft fleet.

 **Blackhawk (Heavy Fighter/Bomber)**

 _Approx 44m long, 28m wide_

Compared to the Skyguard, the _Blackhawk_ has far less turning ability, and as a result is far less of a dogfighter. What it lacks in the ability to dance, however, is more than made up with its oversized ordinance delivery capability.

Given the Volus experience in crewing heavy bombers, they made ideal pilots - and as such Blackhawk cockpits are filled with an pressurized ammonia mix rather than a conventional nitrox atmosphere. Each of these units has a crew of two Volus.

The _Blackhawk_ is normally loaded with two 250 kiloton shaped nuclear warheads, and can overburden itself to carry four quarter-megaton weapons or two half-megaton devices, although increasing the payload beyond original specifications will further reduce maneuverability, greatly increasing vulnerability to enemy fighters and point defenses.

The warheads, however, are capable of punching through battlecruiser plating - entire squadrons hitting will demolish them in short order.

Because the Blackhawk is much larger than the Skyguard, Blackhawks usually fly in short squadrons - 4 units per squad, for fighter-bay compatibility purposes, and each Blackhawk strike group is escorted by twice their number of Skyguards.

 **Retributor (Heavy Fighter/Corvette)**

 _Approx 75m long, 38m wide_

Somewhere in between a miniature frigate and a giant fighter in size and maneuverability characteristics, the _Retributor_ cannot fit into standard Council strike craft bays and must be carried externally like their frigates; although being half the size twice as many Retributors can be moved this way.

These corvettes are purpose built to take advantage of the Hierarchy's newest and most powerful armament - the Thanix ferrofluid weapons system. Mounting a single spinal Thanix gun, the Retributor is too large to easily bring it to bear against enemy fighters, but sufficiently agile to evade enemy dreadnought and even cruiser fire.

The spinal ferrofluid weapon crushes through sub-cruiser strength kinetic barriers in less than a second, and is capable of cutting through even battlecruiser plating, allowing a squadron of Retributors to pose a realistic threat against capital units.

Unlike the Blackhawk, the Retributor does not depend on heavy consumable munitions to do its job, and does not need to return to its carrier for resupply after making each attack run. Its Thanix weapon has far more range than the Blackhawk's bombs, thus reducing the vulnerability of the attacking Retributor against point defenses.

Finally, the Blackhawk's munitions are vulnerable to interception and point defense fire, while point defense cannot stop a jet of accelerated ferrofluid if it failed to shoot down the incoming corvette - for these reasons, the Retributor is beginning to replace the Blackhawk in Turian service.

To maximize the corvette's ability to perform its role, the _Retributor_ carries no secondary armament, enhanced Eezo drives, anti-fighter kinetic barriers, and some ablative plating to better resist laser point defenses - although casualty projections against anything more powerful than Citadel-standard IR lasers, especially main battery-caliber lasers found on Terran cruisers, are rather dismaying.

 **Watchman (Frigate)**

 _Approx 120m long, 40m wide_

Neither optimized for space combat nor maximized for atmospheric operations, the _Watchman_ has served the Turian Hierarchy in a general-purpose role for over two centuries. Capable of landing small bodies of troops, fighting enemy frigates, holding off fighter formations, forming wolfpacks to threaten larger units, the _Watchman_ was once one of the most common units in the Hierarchy Fleet.

However, its single frigate scale spinal accelerator proved ineffective against the Zerg, its moderate quantity of torpedo racks insufficient against the Protoss, and its moderate barriers all around mediocre. Suffering heavy casualties during the Great War, Hierarchy command decided not to build additional Watchmen.

Still, the need for hulls against the Salarians has proven most vexing, and nearly one-third of all Watchmen have been upgraded to the _Assailant-_ pattern.

 _Assailant-_ pattern

 _Approx 120m long, 40m wide_

Replacing the spinal accelerator and missile racks with a pair of small Thanix turrets, the _Assailant_ can dodge enemy dreadnought fire while engaging enemy frigates. In a pinch, its turrets can track most fighters, and its Thanix weapons can bring down cruiser-grade shielding with a few seconds of sustained fire.

 _Assailant_ crews, however, feel their frigate-scale IR GARDIAN systems are completely useless; while they hit enemy projectiles far more often than their turrets can, it usually cannot stop them before they hit. Some crews have reported minor success in using small Thanix turrets as a point defense system.

 **Predator (Heavy Frigate)**

 _Approx 190m long, 70m wide_

Although still armed with a single spinal accelerator, the extra hull length has increased the accelerator's destructive potential. Rather than increasing GARDIAN cluster count, the Predator has vastly increased Torpedo rack space compared to the Watchman, greatly enhancing its ability to alpha-strike opponents and saturate point defenses.

Most importantly to the personnel onboard, the Predator has extra-thick framing members, approaching the structural integrity of, say, a Salarian light cruiser, allowing it to soak up much more punishment - and still bring the crew home.

Although slower and equipped with weaker barriers compared to an Asari _Novitiate_ , the Predator actually had a marginally superior survivability rate. Approximately half of all Predators have been refit with Thanix weapons, and the Hierarchy command has labeled the new model the _Hunter_ -Pattern.

Both new conventional Predators and Hunters are being constructed - Palaven sees a future for both designs.

 _Hunter-_ pattern

 _Approx 190m long, 70m wide_

Fitted with three miniature turrets; the smallest practical ferrofluid turret in production, the Hunter model frigate can nail even the most evasive fighters. For larger opponents, it brings its medium spinal Thanix to bear.

While much less capable of evading cruiser scale fire than a corvette, its superior barriers and size allow it to endure more damage - allowing it to keep its spinal Thanix on target for longer periods of time, increasing damage potential.

The design completely omits torpedo racks, trusting in its multiple Thanix armament. Only time will tell if this was a good decision.

 **Enforcer (Cruiser)**

 _Approx 466m long, 150m wide_

As the enforcers and peacekeepers of the old Citadel Council, the Turian Hierarchy long needed units that could patrol shipping lanes, show the flag, and crack down on crime for months at a time without resupply - a task that is difficult to achieve in a smaller hull without reducing combat capability.

Compared to other Turian units, which have three months of supplies, the Enforcer has an endurance of half a year before requiring resupply, and were often used by frigate squadrons as an ad-hoc supply ship.

Thus, the Hierarchy strongly favored the more expensive cruiser over smaller unit classes; and like the Asari, developed a 1:1 ratio of frigates to cruisers. This is an enormous boon to them post-Koprulu, as the lack of ability to squeeze in a Warp core and reactor into a frigate that must also carry weapons, crew, life support, storage, etc would be a huge problem if they couldn't simply attach an Eezo-frigate to a cruiser and enter Warp that way.

This cruiser, by far the single most numerous Turian design in existence, suffered greatly during the Great War; _every single Enforcer_ sent to Koprulu was destroyed. As the standard cruiser type used to patrol Citadel Space, they were the first to be ambushed by Zerg forces. When the call for reinforcements came, Enforcers were the first to arrive to battle, and as they were cheaper and thus more expendable than heavier Turian units, Enforcers were last to leave.

Even so, the _Enforcer_ is still the most numerous Turian design in existence - so numerous that about half the Enforcer fleet still have not received Warp Cores and are assigned to Relay-patrol duties. Roughly one-eighth of Enforcers have been modified with Thanix systems, Palaven has denoted these models as the _Judgement_ -pattern.

Each Enforcer has sufficient strike craft bay space to organically carry a single squadron of _Skyguard_ fighters

 _Judgement-_ pattern

 _Approx 466m long, 120m wide_

Equipped with a bank of six small Thanix turrets and a single large spinal ferrofluid weapon, the Judgement can annihilate enemy frigates in short order. Although its spinal Thanix can tear through even Asari dreadnought barriers in seconds, it is far less likely to evade an incoming dreadnought round than lighter units, and Palaven has ordered Judgements to stay at extreme range; using the design as a picket ship to defend their own dreadnoughts against enemy wolfpacks and fighter forces.

Due to the lack of a clear role (that could not be performed by other ships), Hierarchy High Command has ordered the cessation of _Judgement_ conversions from Enforcers.

 **Victrix (Heavy Cruiser)**

 _Approx 580m long, 280m wide_

Designed after the reveal of the _Athame_ -class dreadnought, Turian engineers took a look at the dual barreled warship and thought "you know… that isn't actually a bad way to increase the amount of firepower on each hull" and came up with a dual-barreled cruiser design.

Though the ship was undoubtedly heavier and slower, its long ranged firepower was unsurpassed amongst Council cruisers, and perfectly suited the old Turian strategy where they'd advance their wall of battle in an slow, but implacable fashion.

The reason they did not immediately duplicate the Athame-class dreadnought was twofold; firstly, with the Asari to act as the glue, they were relatively satisfied in the Council and did not (despite accusations) actually hold ambitions of galactic conquest, and secondly, the Turians are a naturally conservative people, preferring to test the design on a smaller - and less expensive - hull before investing heavily.

As the Hierarchy is perfectly (well, pretty close) satisfied with the _Victrix_ as a long range combatant, they have not refitted the heavy cruiser with Thanix armaments. Due to its increased size relative to standard cruisers, the Victrix has two strike craft bays; in the wake of the Great War these are usually loaded with one short squadron of Blackhawks and one (full) squadron of Skyguards.

 **Pax (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 820m long, 220m wide_

The Turians did not understand why the Asari and Salarian Councilors reacted with laughter when the Hierarchy announced that its next Dreadnought class would be named after peace- after all, they took their duties in the wake of the Krogan Rebellion quite seriously.

The most numerous dreadnought class in existence, the Turians suffered the second-highest losses (excluding the Geth) in the Great War, losing one at Tarsonis, four against the Zerg encroachments, and another three over Thessia, bringing down the size of this dreadnought fleet to 'only' thirty one units.

As the Hierarchy has focused all dreadnought yards on constructing _Imperator_ -class dual-barreled designs after realizing the Terrans had constructed possibly over a thousand Yamato-cannon armed battlecruisers, the Pax-class has not received any replacements. Even so, it is still by far the largest non-Protoss class of supercapitals in all of known space.

Considered the most basic of Council dreadnoughts, the Turians designed it to be as no-frills as possible; reliable, simple, relatively durable, and cheap (well, as cheap as possible for a gigantic warship). In the wake of the Great War, Pax-class DNs have been refitted with Warp cores and fusion reactors, enabling them to travel without being constricted to Relays, but this has removed strike craft space, reducing their fighter count to only three squadrons.

 **Imperator (Dreadnought)**

 _Approx 1280m long, 310m wide_

Without access to Silaris frontal plates, nor microjump drives, nor dreadnought scale cloaking devices, the _Imperator_ is widely considered the weakest of the modern dual-barreled dreadnought designs. Even so, it has one critical advantage - numerical superiority. Palaven has constructed twelve Imperators so far, with another three of these dual-barreled dreadnoughts commissioning by the end of this year. Hierarchy projections indicate production will only accelerate further.

Like other modern Council warships (cruiser-size and above), they have a Warp core and fusion reactor.

Due to their slightly increased size (relative to other dual-barreled dreadnoughts) and lack of 'special' systems, the Imperator has extended strike craft bays, allowing each ship to carry five squadrons of fighters.

 **|Non-combat Spacecraft**

 **Vigilance (-)**

 _Approx 210m long, 80m wide_

Compared to most swept back, aggressive-looking Turian designs, the _Vigilance_ is ungainly, blocky, and generally awkward looking. That being said, it is one of the more critical units in the Turian armada.

Instantly realizing that Mass Effect cores generated far less heat than conventional Terran thrusters, the Turians knew they were halfway to a stealthed scout ship design.

By stripping all weapons off from an oversized heavy frigate chassis they could minimize the sensor signature and just about squeeze in a miniaturized reactor & Warp Core, and by reducing crew complement from dozens to four Turians - and then sticking the four Turians into spacesuits - they could reduce life support requirements sufficiently to squeeze in powerful sensors and a cloaking system.

Overall, the Vigilance-class frigate is an affordable, easily produced, and sufficiently fast (especially in FTL) scout vessel that is both difficult to localize and destroy while able to localize stealthed enemy ships.

Of course, for four individuals to do the duties normally required by dozens - even without weapons systems and aided by VI - required a some of the most skilled crew in the Hierarchy Fleet … who tended not to volunteer to get stuck in a spacesuit.

Worse, most Turians considered those who volunteered for a non-combat duty weirdos, even though they intellectually understood the necessity. Now that the Hierarchy is beginning to trust (some) Volus again, many of the pacifistic, suit-acclimated beings have found a natural role in the fleet, to the relief of many a Turian technician!

 **Spiritguide (-)**

 _Approx 390m long, 150m wide_

Constructed off of old _Conqueror_ chassis, an old, Krogan Rebellion-era light cruiser, the _Spiritguide_ -class hospital ships carry some of the most renowned Turian medical personnel and significant medical equipment.

Although the actual impact of these vessels on a war is low, the sheer morale benefits they bring just by existing is immense - living proof that the Hierarchy cares about its citizen-soldiers. These ships are assigned to the Hierarchy Fleet Train.

 **Endurance (-)**

 _Approx 466m long, 150m wide_

Constructed off of old Enforcer cruiser chassis, these ships tend to be crewed by older Turian veterans who have suffered debilitating or crippling injuries, and are no longer fit to serve in a frontline role.

However, filled with vast quantities of supplies, varying from food, warship components, to mass accelerator slugs, they are some of the most critical ships in the fleet - although Turian ships are designed with extensive internal supply capacity, the sheer size of their fleet and the vast territory they must cover means that without a Fleet Train, the Hierarchy would be bogged down forever.

* * *

 **A/N: Review Response Time.**

 **Dark:**

 **Yep. Umojan force is very dangerous for it's size. Asari and Protectorates have gotten even closer in the most recent chapter of main fic, so your prediction came true. The other prediction, however, is extremely unlikely. There are at least ~150 billion Asari and a mere ~10 billion Umojan Terrans. Remember, demographics, while not destiny, is absurdly influential.**

 **HOmega:**

 **SC1(i.e. Sudden Contact) Personal Cloaking required a psionic to operate. SC2 Personal Cloaking works on non-psionics too, but it's a power hog, less stealthy, doesn't last as long, and is heavier/bulkier. Still useful.**

 **No, Asari aren't mind controllers. They just have huge advantages in political shenanigans, especially in a xenophile open democracy that is Umoja.**

 **Saris:**

 **Doctrinal changes have occurred, harder to write about though. You should be able to glean some of the changes from both these codexes and chapters of main fic.**

 **Monosodium9000:**

 **Firstly, don't apologize for a wordy review. It's why I write in the first place; to explain stuff.**

 **Terran infantry weapons fire slugs that are hundreds (or thousands of times) heavier than ME grains. Their rail/gauss systems are more efficient than Council systems, because without the crutch of ME fields they've had to make do with what they had. Hybrid designs combine the best of both worlds; higher caliber round (that is more effective vs shielding/heavy armor) that is even faster than before and more energy efficient.**

 **Course, it uses Eezo and space forces grumble that the Eezo would be better spent on starships.**

 **Light frigates are very poorly armed. They must carry an FTL drive, supplies, personnel space for dozens of crew, life support for the same, etc, which cuts into weapons volume/mass. Most Council races use Light Frigates as patrol/sentry/police units, and have only 10% of actual hull devoted to combat purposes (whereas heavy frigates are around 40%, most cruisers are 60%+ and a Dreadnought is like 80%+).**

 **Meanwhile, a tank has a crew of three (two for most Council tanks) and isn't designed to support those crewmen for months on a interstellar patrol, and is basically all weapons, drivetrain, powerplant, armor.**

 **It's why the Turians, being battle maniacs, decided never to build light frigates; why major council species don't operate light frigates anymore - and why the Quarian Fleet managed to acquire a bunch of them at bargain bin prices.**


End file.
